Why Women Love Jane Austen's Works

Spent a delicious evening watching Emma on PBS Masterpiece Theater and tweeting on Twitter with other Austen lovers across the country. It's quite a popular version, and considering how many women were by-passing the Grammy awards to watch it made it all the more enjoyable.

So what is it exactly about Jane Austen's works that draws us in? A few thoughts....

1. It's all about the films. Austen's books make such awesome movies! Especially if done by anyone remotely connected to the BBC.
2. It's all about the clothes! We all want the dresses! 
3. It's all about Knightly vs. Darcy.... or maybe it's not, we'll just take BOTH of them!!!
4. It's all about understatement - sultry looks across ballrooms, the chance to hold a girl's gloved hand, observed decorum abounds... and we love that! Nothing blatant, nothing insulting, just manners!
5. It's all about the gorgeous houses.... even the poor live in quaint little cottagey type abodes. Yeah, we know, there's not an abundance of indoor plumbing, but hey... we can forget that if the wallpaper in the ballrooms is pretty.
6. It's all about Colin Firth... say what you will... he IS Mr. Darcy... and everyone else is compared to his standard.
7. It's all about being able to boo and hiss at the nasty people.... and there's quite a list... Mr. Elton, Frank Churchhill, Mr. Wickham.... boo boo boo!
8. It's all about the humor... subtle, witty, verbally sharp... it makes you giggle every time, even when you know the line that's coming up next!
9. It's about the happy endings... you know the protagonists will discover the love of their life by the end as will quite a few of the other characters.
10. It's all about LOVE.... and who ever has enough romance in this modern fast-paced crazy world we live in!

So find a PBS station near you and tune in. After Emma is over, there are going to be two more excellent productions - Persuasion and Northanger Abbey... don't miss out!

Happy Birthday, Dearest Gabriel!

To our Grandson Gabriel

on the Occasion of His 8th Birthday

Today we celebrate the day

You joined our family

You've given smiles and love away

and made us laugh with glee.

Today we can't believe how fast

the last eight years have flown.

It seems like we just blinked our eyes

and now you're halfway grown!

God bless you always, Gabriel,

with blessings from above

This poem is just a gift to tell

You just how much you're loved!

with love from Grandma & Papa

January 24, 2010

I Think... therefore I Knit

I haven't said too much about my knitting as of late... but I've been doing a lot of it lately. Somehow, no matter how hectic life gets, knitting centers me and helps me relax. Some folks maintain there is a meditative or zen-like aspect of knitting and even go so far as suggest that it lowers blood pressure and protects the brain from things like Alzheimer's (I hope!)

So today, I switched on PBS (my favorite channel) and what is on? A KNITTING SHOW MARATHON on the Create Channel (9.4 here in St.Lou) and I thought, Huzzah!!!! I also popped a DVD into my recorder and tried my first attempt at recording directly from the television. (hoped THAT comes out!) I am getting inspired by all the ideas I am seeing and the hardest thing is not to immediately stop grading papers (which is what I SHOULD do) and start knitting (which is what I WANT to do)!

Anyway... I have been busy making some cute things lately.... I think I posted my wrist warmers a few posts back.. but here's my latest... a cabled hat. It's cozy and I could make it in one night!

Stuff I Will Never "Get"

This is more of a list and a response to the events of yesterday and today. If it seems a tad "rant-ish" feel free to pass on reading this one, but I just had to write these down, if only for myself.

There is a growing list of things I don't "get" as I become older. Maybe it's senility on my part, but somehow the logic escapes me on some of this stuff and I just wonder if I'm the only one who sees the world this way. (very likely... oh well...)

Here goes:
Stuff I Don't "Get" - Part One

1. Folks who make comments about M.L.King day as if it's somehow a huge personal insult to them that America chooses to celebrate coming through the Civil Rights movement with just a bit more dignity, fairness, and justice for others. Frankly, I don't get anyone who fails to see that for over 2 centuries our nation tolerated injustice based solely upon the color of man's skin (and that there are those who would tolerate seeing that continue into the present); and that to celebrate the life of someone who made us "wake up and smell the racist coffee" is not a bad thing to do and might even inspire us to do better than we are. So I guess I don't "get" stubborn and persistent racism.

2. Folks who can say, "Oh well, Haiti is so poor, that even if we help them, it won't come close to fixing their problems... it's more like pouring money down a toilet!" Yup, heard that one this week... can't believe I heard it (and from whom) but bleeding heart (liberal) Christian that I feel I must be, I can't escape that time Jesus said, "Whenever you did it for the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me." - so I guess I will continue to flush $ away... thus, I don't get self-righteous selfishness.

3. Reactions to the Republican win in Massachusetts today as being a slap to our President and a way to block health care reform. (I guess this is technically TWO things) Personally, I don't see why anybody would want to root for the "big business" conglomerate that is the American Health Insurance system. Their stocks shot through the roof today on the news from Massachusetts... (cha-ching!) can you hear them counting their profits already? Why are we so willing to believe that big business wants to treat us well, but that our government does not? Why are so many people excitedly hoping to see our President be a failure? Something is wrong with how angry everyone gets about all of the above... and I don't get it. 30 million people have nowhere to go if they get sick and most of us are one or two paychecks from being in serious financial trouble if WE become that sick person... yet we continue to bet on the notion that our big business and their lobbyists will work for US. Hah! Not likely! I'd rather bet on a guy I elected and can un-elect being made to work for me than my insurance company which can jack my rates without even asking me or tell me I am suddenly uninsurable if I become seriously ill. I don't get it.

4. Finally, on a lighter note, I don't get why grown men paint "family cars" to look like hopped up roadsters... this was one I saw in the parking lot at Petsmart tonight. A chap in his obvious late-30's pulls up in a PT Cruiser with flame detailing all around the wheel hubs and on the hood. It looked so totally stupid that I laughed out loud. Let's face it, it was NOT a roadster, a race car, or anything close! It's a PT CRUISER... they cruise; they don't race. (but maybe he sits inside it going "vroom vroom" as he heads to Petsmart... I dunno)

So there's my list.. for this week... will probably be adding more as time passes. Thanks, fellow readers, if you managed to put up with this old lady and her ramblings.

Doing the Best You Can

As most Americans, I've been watching the news from Haiti with sadness and concern. It's almost impossible to imagine a country so devastated and also with so few resources to cope with the losses.
On the flipside, I have been so heartened by the response of my students to the disaster! They got together the very next day to plan what they wanted to do to help and put their first stage of the plan into operation last night.
Ed and I work with the Key Club at our school. For those who might not know, Key Club is a high school branch of Kiwanis Clubs International, and the youth involved work to do service and benefit community charities, particularly those involving children. Our kids decided that phase one was to raise money for Haiti as quickly as possible. They started last night with a "Change War" Challenge. We had a home basketball game scheduled vs. St. Dominic, a conference rival and fellow Christian (Catholic) high school. The challenge went on during all three of the home games with results announced at each game interval (half times and between). We had a standing room only crowd show up and the fans were VERY generous. They gave their pocket change at the gate, concession stands, and when the cheer squad went up into the stands to the tune of over $700! Lutheran High won the challenge... but Haiti won the night! And the kids felt like it was possible to get others involved in making a difference! A good thing all the way around. (LHS did lose the varsity game, but that's not the best story of the night...) Next week, the faculty/student donation drive! I'll keep you posted!

A Busy Busy Day

Back at school today after the long snowday weekend of 4 days off. If the kids could be any more lethargic, I don't know how. Suffice it to say that only teenagers can act exhausted after 4 days of no schedule! I think they must stay up extra late and really go nocturnal when they're off school. I could be wrong, but it's my hunch.

On the up side, I got a great deal done today, especially with yearbook and that felt good. We're at the 50 page mark at present which means that almost 1/2 the book is finished. I wish I could relax and just not worry about the book as much as I do. I know my kids are working on it, but sometimes I feel like we drift around quite a bit.

Today's big news was Mark McGwire finally admitted to steriod use while he was at the height of his homerun career.... not that anyone really doubted that, but he's gone all apologetic on the TV - almost crying about it now... 5 years after he blatantly lied to Congress and the fans. I don't particularly feel like he deserves a lot of sympathy at the moment. I am also fairly disappointed that the Cardinals have hired him as a coach for their young players. I don't care if he can hit a ball to Mars, he's shown he lacks ethical decision-making skills; what's to keep him from being a bad influence on younger players in the league.

It's Cold Enough to.....

FREEZE BEER!
My dad used to laugh when he said it, but today we proved it's possible. Ed usually keeps his beer in the garage in the winter in order to save space in the fridge. This afternoon when he brought one in and poured it, icy lumps came out and floated like foam on the top... FROZEN BEER slushy is what he got! (In case you're curious, he still drank it; one doesn't waste good beer, frozen or otherwise!)

The Day I Flew Down the Hall

In all the hoopla over getting snow, I forgot to mention my strange adventure of this past Wednesday. Every year, our Physics students study aerodynamics and pneumatic principals. Part of this involves sailing down the hallway in the "air powered flying saucer" a.k.a. the "flying car" or hovercraft. Usually, I manage to get out there to watch and snap photos for yearbook. This year, however, the teacher Mr. Linn turned to me and said, "So do you want to try it?" If you know me at all you know what my answer was.
I am proud to say I went nearly 60 ft before I settled softly onto the floor.

The "car" rides on a its own little pillow of air provided by a repurposed vaccuum cleaner running in reverse. It is SO much fun as well as being a rather silly way to learn science. SO I have seen the future and ridden in the air car, which may not be up to the standard of The Jetsons yet... but one can dream!

Epiphany gift? SNOWDAY!

Last night the snow began falling about 6pm and this morning we awoke to our first snowday of the season. What a gift!
Now don't be thinking that we had a TON of snow... if you want to see true snowday justifiable amounts click on my daughter Kate's blog in my sidebar and THERE you will see snow! If we got anything like that here in St. Louis we'd be off school for a WEEK! However, we got about 3 inches and it was VERY cold and windy which made it a challenge for Missouri road crews; thus we got a snowday. Here is the view of our backyard taken from the dining room window.

Although the day always goes faster than the typical workday, we got a huge amount of stuff done in our home. First we took down the Christmas Tree, then we rearranged the living room (something we've both wanted to do for awhile but hadn't realized we both wanted to!). Now the next two photos will only be meaningful to folks who've been in our living room recently, but since most of you are the people who read this, that will be okay. The piano has officially escaped from the deep corner at the far end of the room, and it REALLY changes the look of the room!
Chas, however, is not sure he likes all the furniture being moved and was a really whiney pain in the pahtoot all day. Greyhounds do not like change. Next, I cleaned and reorganized my china closet (sorry, no photos of that), and then I sat and watched the snow blow past the window while I sipped hot coffee and Ed made soup (another snowday tradition around here). Ahhhh! Good day!

These are the new wristwarmers that I finished last night. I never realized how much warmer you are when your wrists are cozy! I am definitely going to make more of these and some for my daughters and friends as well. I guess it makes sense if running cool water on your wrists cools you off in the summer, then warming them should work to make you cozier in the winter.

Ed, "Soupman", Staude - flavor of the day: roasted cabbage/vegie soup...

made our whole house smell wonderful all day long!

Two by Two

Marriage is on my mind in this post...
On Dec. 29th 2009, Ed and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. We chose to remember the day by going out to dinner with all our kids and grandkids. The place? Frankie Tocco's restaurant on Jefferson and Main St. in St. Charles.... one of our favorite eateries and a place where families are always welcomed warmly. So there we were, all ten of us, and I looked up and down the table feeling really thankful for all the people we've been blessed with in our lives.
My girls are both married to great guys and you can tell by these shots that they have great "personalities" and senses of humor... that is something Ed and I have found to be an integral component in our marriage... an ability to laugh and find humor in the day-to-day things that life brings. So here's to married life, our daughters, their hubbies, and laughter that binds us all together!

Happy New Year! (and a warning!)

I am going to try something a bit different in this New Year... I am going to try to post at least 3 times per week - with or without photos... just to make my blog more of a journal of the year as well as merely the highlights. We'll see how it goes, life does tend to get bizarre and busy so I may not be able to pull it off...

First post of 2010.... When Snuggies Attack! Both Katrina and Gretchen received the infamous (and it appears devious) warming devices for Christmas. Gret's is blue and on New Year's Eve it attempted to consume my grandson Gabriel. The happy news is that he survived the attack and went on to stay awake until midnight! All Snuggie owners beware! The things are sneaky!!!

Jingle Jingle Jingle!

Here's wishing everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

We had a wonderful time this Christmas... lots of great food, great times with family, and even a smidgin' of the white stuff to cover the brown turf of Missouri to make the holiday pretty! Cannot complain about a single thing and we still have a week of our holiday break to go.

My best gift was the Kindle that Ed got me! As an avid reader, I know it will help me further feed my addiction to books! I already have 5 lined up waiting on it for me to read! More photos to come soon... check back in a day or two, my Michigan grandkids arrive tomorrow and I want to put ALL of their pics on my blog!

Pre-Holiday Blessings & My Girls: a Mama's Joy.

It has been an incredibly exciting week for us! Well, actually more for our kids which as those of you who are parents know makes it equally exciting for the parents! Our daughters have had major blessings come their way and it has left us all so excited, happy, and (of course) proud that we feel like we got our Christmas gifts early this year. So if you don't mind, I'd like to share.

Our eldest daughter, Gretchen, was surprised by a HUGE promotion at her company, Concordia Publishing House. She has been made the Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications for the company. Just slightly less than 2 years ago she began working at CPH so this is a great vote of confidence by her company in her abilities to do what she does for them! The job comes with some obvious new benefits (a bigger desk chair among them, we hear) and wider responsibilities, but she has a great team of folks working with her so we know she will be wonderful at her expanded role for CPH!

Next, our younger daughter, Katrina, has been quietly working on her first novel throughout the past year. In August she informed the family that she was going to "go for it" and seek getting it published. This week saw exciting developments in that adventure... she has a literary agent now working for her! Her book got some great feedback from several agencies but she has now chosen a very prominent New York based firm to work with her in marketing her novel. So in the new year we could actually get to see her work in stores with a cover on it! This is a dream come true for her and is especially exciting to both of us who have taught her English over the years and seen her talent and voice develop! Now, don't ask me the million dollar question as to what the book's about or if I liked it, because in typical Katrina-fashion she's been very quiet and private about it. None of us in the family have had the privilege to read it yet... but are told that once it "has a cover" we'll get a chance to read it. All I know is that it's Young-Adult Fiction genre and involves the great lakes plus the mythical creatures of mermaids... (not certain how many). My students are waiting with baited breath for a chance to read one of their fellow LHS alumni in print. So stay tuned in the New Year for more about my girls!

Come Ye Thankful People Come... They Came!

Come, ye thankful people, come....
Raise the song of harvest home,


All be safely gathered in....
Ere the winter storms begin.


God, Our Maker, doth provide...
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God's own Temple come...
Raise the song of Harvest Home!

A Good Use of Leaves

I am not a fan of leaf raking... that said, there is ONE sort of leaf raking I AM a HUGE fan of... it's the sort of raking that leads to photos such as these. Enjoy these, and then go find a toddler tyke or several of them and RAKE up some fun!

Syd shows real potential as a leaf raker!

She buried herself this deep without ANY help from her grandma!
Like I said, she has GREAT potential as a leaf lover and raker!

Happy Halloween and then some!

Halloween was this past weekend and we got to enjoy watching our grandkids celebrate it. While we didn't get to see Kate's threesome in person, she kept us posted via her blog which we watched throughout the process of pumpkin shopping, carving, costumes and the like.

The Harrmann gang of three is ready to score some candy!

Rhylah contemplates her next stop!

Here in Missouri we tagged along with Sydney a.k.a. Tinkerbell as she experienced her first real Halloween. (really can't count last year when she didn't get to yell trick-or-treat or anything similar!) She had a blast! You could see from the bounce in her step and the excited squeals that she just KNEW this was a special night.

Can you tell Syd's just a LITTLE excited?

An extra treat was having Leon's mom in town from Colorado for the weekend. So the two grannies got to go larking about the neighborhood with their own little Disney character leading the way. It was wonderful fun!

As we set out you can see the bonfire is ready and we ended the evening with white chili and pumpkin bread by the fireside. Yum! Here goes Carol and Gretchen (dressed as a cat and Mama Tink ... yours truly did not go in character garb, didn't know it was expected of a granny!)

Oh, and while I was at it, I FINALLY got a shot of Gret and Leon's new house in
its ALL FINISHED version... pretty, huh?

Harvest: Nortons, Friends, Tractors and FUN!

The final weekend of harvest was this weekend... and we hauled 60 lugs of Nortons off the 11 rows in the vineyard. (that's 2,100 lbs for those of you who don't think in lugs). Thanks to some help from great friends and neighbors we had them all off the vine and crushed by 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. It was a windy and cool day.. more like November than October, but the fun of talking and laughing in the vineyard made the work go quickly.

Our daughter Gretchen and granddaughter Sydney spent the weekend out at the farm with us too. That made for some sweet photos too! Enjoy... oh, and maybe sip a glass of wine while you do it.

Sydney discusses her theories of how the tractor works.

Sydney and I took a walk in the meadow. Notice our matching
grey hoodies... it was definitely hoodie weather!

That's a million dollar grin on that girl!
Norton grapes going into the crusher.

Here's how they look coming out of the crusher... or the squisher as one of our neighbor's kids calls it.

Life in Two Places - and Love from a Toddler

Having a rather strange week this week... it's fermentation time out at the vineyard, so we're commuting in to school from there... and checking on the house every so often. Fortunately we have great neighbors who keep a watchful eye on things for us.. but it feels weird to have your life split between two places. The 45 minute commute each a.m. is not so bad... I get a lot of papers graded or napping done, depending on how tired I am. By the way, we're offline at the vineyard which explains why I am not on here as much lately.

As the wine simmers (yes, it actually bubbles as it ferments) it smells very yeasty - sort of like when you mix bread dough. Things are going well so far and next year's vintages should be good ones.

Our kids are now in ensconced in their new home. We stopped over to see them last night and Sydney let out a whoop and a squeal as we came in the door... and then she dashed into our arms grinning like crazy. It felt SO amazing to be loved that much by a little person! Gret said she's been asking for us each morning but seeing her last night so happy just made my heart go all mushy!

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting...

After an entire summer of smooth sailing on their new home build, our kids are hanging in "loan limbo" and dealing with closing hassles. NOT fun, not at all! And NONE of it is any of their fault which is even MORE frustrating.

Last Thursday's originally scheduled closing was bumped back to today due to a computer snafu at the Lender's office. Today they appeared to have all the ducks in line and signed on the dotted lines but got no keys until their checks all were wired from the the Title Company to the Lender... the clock ticked, it continued to tick, and the end of the working day arrived... but no confirmation of the final wire of money. SO.... maybe tomorrow will be the big day... a week late and on an inconvenient date for almost everyone involved, but at least by this time tomorrow they may have the keys in their hands!

What a dismal way to experience the uncomfortable truth that there are times when NOTHING is within your realm of control... and house closings appear to be one of those times!

Meanwhile, our nest remains joyously (if somewhat frustratedly) full... the chicks want to fly but they need a place to land!

Sunflowers and other Goldens

We've had a gorgeous weekend of unseasonably cool weather here. It's been so wonderful to have the windows open and sleep to songs of the crickets floating in on the breeze! Yesterday we headed off to the vineyard and spent a lovely day bottling wine, visiting with our customers who more and more seem like friends, and walking the dogs. We had Bailey with us as his family is in Colorado, and the dog was in doggie paradise.
We roamed around the fields and he sniffed EVERYTHING his nose could find to sniff. He romped and bounced and just had a marvelous time! It was so joyous that it made you think, he's been waiting in the house for days and days to do something like this... it was just delightful to watch him. After he got his fill of sniffing and such, he laid down in the grass, where I was able to do a photoshoot of him. I got some really awesome shots of our grandpuppy. (Chas told me he wasn't jealous since he's always getting his photo taken.) So what you see here is one happy canine... watching the sunset from the front lawn of his family's vineyard. Contentment!