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Literacy!

In Real Book Club news, recent picks were: 

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Lean In: Women Work & the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Of those, I recommend Gone Girl the most, although it did make several people totally crazy, which I also understand. It’s got a plot that won’t let you go, though. No denying that.

Next month we’ll discuss The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. I've already read it, which is good, because I've got a huge pile of other books to wade through.

For my Work Book Club we attempted The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. Because everyone knows that discussing politics and religion at work is a good idea! But it worked out fine, in that I don’t think anyone finished it. It was very dry. I’ll try to finish it sometime, maybe. 

We also discussed Lean In, so that was a win for me, since I discussed it with both groups. 

Asparagus

Holy moly, there's a lot of my purple asparagus this year. And it's mostly just me that eats it. And weeks left of the 4-week harvesting period! Just made a double batch of this Cream of Asparagus soup for tonight. I'll report back on how it turned out after dinner. (Note that the recipe leaves out garlic. Typo, probably.)

And I just had the most delightful salad. I can't quite pin down what made it so good. It was:

• A little Romaine lettuce
• A chopped hard-boiled egg
• Some blue cheese crumbles
• Sprouted lentils
• Fresh from the garden organic gorgeous thick purple asparagus cut lovingly into tender beautiful chunks
• Caesar dressing

It's a very nice time of year. Planted 27 tomato plants and 15 pole beans today. Cukes, herbs, whatnot went in yesterday. Still having trouble with the potatoes being eaten by chipmunks, and something is eating my beet leaves. This means war, vermin.

Edited to add: The soup was fantastic! N couldn't get enough of it. Naturally, the kids hated it, but oh well.

Updates on 2013 resolutions

I made an abundance of resolutions this year. I don't know what possessed me. I'm not going to talk about all of them. This is more of an overview.

Eco and volunteer work

Work on the new school vegetable garden. This has turned into quite the time suck. I organized volunteers to build the raised beds, shed, and benches. I've got nearly the whole summer covered for watering. I procured the seeds. When I look at my email sent folder, I’m a little shocked at the level of work I've put into this thing. Think happy non-raining thoughts tomorrow at 3:15 when the students are supposed to move dirt and mulch around! We already had to postpone once. For the record, there are other parents also putting in huge amounts of time and effort. It’s really quite a project.

Organize triathlon fundraiser. I got two people to sign up. I was hoping for more, but hey, two. I’m still sending out my own fundraising emails.

Grow one new vegetable at home. Kale! Lemon cucumbers! And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to mention that my fruit trees are all blooming out of control this year, including the pear tree and Russian quince. Let’s hope I actually get to eat some of it this year. Garden in general is looking great. Lots of work still ahead, putting in my tomatoes are all that.

Hobbies

Finished two jewelry projects.

According to Good Reads, I’m slightly ahead of schedule, having read 17 books since the first of the year.

Travel

Looking good! Big trip planned.

Me Me Me

Buy some new clothing. Got some great stuff at a rummage sale. That probably doesn't count.

Sprint triathlon training is going well. I can run 4 miles now, which is more than the race requires. A first for me. Biking is fine, swimming is fine. No complaints. Does take a lot of time, though. Exercising.

Household

Uh. OK, probably should buckle down here a little.