To-do in Salt Lake

National Anne Frank Exhibit at the Salt Lake City Library through May 11. Read more about it here. 

Hope and Peace in Troubled Times

I have to agree with Dr. Elia of Mormon Times:

"I don't know if these are the "last days," but I do know these are troubled times.

Everywhere I look, I see pain, suffering, anger, betrayal, and most of all fear! Lots and lots of fear."

I think the betrayal has been the hardest for me to handle, especially from people you thought you could trust - those I have loved and served to the best of my ability.  Was I perfect?  Absolutely not.  But did I deserve the betrayal?  Of course not.  But, neither has anyone in that situation.  What I hate is becoming somewhat cynical about people as a result.  I so prefer to trust my fellow man (and woman).  What hurts even more is for those I love to believe I betrayed them by being me.  I guess this makes me realize that at least sometimes the betrayal is innocent at least.  I'll try to remember that and stay a little more positive.

I liked this statement too: 
"Remember that listening respectfully does not mean that we necessarily agree with others' beliefs or political systems, it just helps us to builds bridges to understanding instead of brick walls to shut others out."

I found a book to add to my "to-read" list.  The Last Days is one of them.

Right now I need to focus on Conference thoughts.  It's the time of year for me to clean out, dejunk, check the smoke detector batteries, finally make up the 72 hour kits, take inventory of food storage, recharge my spiritual self, relax and recommit.  I'm going to try.  I even hope to finally assemble that 72 hour kit that's scattered all over the house and garage.


Amen to Dr. Elia's words, "May God bless us all with patience, forgiveness and love."

Conference to-do

More than 100 Church-related rare and unique historical items will be on display on Friday, 2 April 2010 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, 3 April 2010 from noon to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.  In the display, aptly named “Treasures of the Collection,” Church history leaders will put on view seldom seen books, photographs, manuscripts, minutes and journals relating to the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 The Church History Library is located at 15 E. North Temple (northeast corner of North Temple and Main), Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, visit the Church History Library Web site at www.churchhistorylibrary.org or call 801-240-2272. 

Joseph Smith and the Restoration, a History of the LDS Church to 1846

Health care reform and other economic casualties

Some info on the new plan here.  

From the Washington Post:

How the health-care overhaul impacts your wallet

Like it or not, it's here -- a major health-care law with all its moving parts, some that become effective immediately and others not until 2014.

The March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that 46 percent of Americans back the health reform proposals while 42 percent opposed them. The remaining 12 percent said they weren't sure what to think.

So what now? Now that all the screaming, yelling and name-calling is hopefully behind us, what does it really mean for you and me?

Signed into law this week, health-care reform will eventually provide coverage for more than 32 million people who are currently uninsured. Among many other provisions, insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions. People will be eligible for tax credits to help pay premiums, and a dependent child will now be allowed to stay on his or her parent's health insurance until age 26.

The Post has created a very useful interactive tool to help you figure out how the new law will apply to your own health care situation. It looks at what your health coverage and taxes will be based on your income, family size and current insurance status. So for example, let's say you are married, have income of $50,000 a year and you don't have any health insurance. You are a family of four. If you plug that information in, here's what you get back:

-- Beginning in 2014, you will receive tax credits to help afford insurance premiums in the new exchanges as well as assistance with deductibles and co-payments.

-- According to your income and family size, the tax credits will ensure you do not spend more than $3,150 to $4,025 on premiums.

-- Your maximum out-of-pocket costs for deductibles and co-payments would be capped at 27 percent of the total cost.

-- You are required to have health insurance. If you don't, you will pay a tax penalty of the greater of $695 per year up to a maximum of three times that amount ($2,085) per family or 2.5 percent of your household income.

To plug in your own information, click here.  Want more reading?

 The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care
Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price
Cured! The Insider's Handbook for Health Care Reform
The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care

And in more economic news...

Living Together But Not Loving It
Johnnie Taylor sang it's "Cheaper to Keep Her," but in this economy, that applies to both spouses. With the recent economic mudslide affecting everything from employment to home values, many estranged couples have postponed divorce because they simply can't afford it.
"In the Great Recession, breaking up is hard to do," reports Donna St. George in Estranged spouses increasingly waiting out downturn to divorce.

W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, says some families are pulling together amid the economic turmoil, and others that want to split up are postponing until they see a rebound in the economy and in home values.
Why is it cheaper to stay? A divorce that ends up in court can cost $10,000 to $20,000 or more, St. George reports. Maybe some of the couples delaying divorce will find ways to reconcile, saving not just their marriage but also a lot of dough.

Divorce and Money: Everything You Need to Know
A Judge's Guide to Divorce: Uncommon Advice from the Bench
We The People's Guide to Divorce: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Reaching an Agreement with Your Spouse and Getting a Hassle-Free Divorce
Dollars & Sense of Divorce

New books for winter reads...

About.com's January calendar of book releases included a new one by Anne Tyler. Always a good read, hers are well, interesting... typical people sometimes doing typical things, but with a twist of strange. It kind of makes me think nobody is really typical, average, stereotyped, etc. We all have oddities and ideosyncracies. Anne has a way of finding those quirks about people. Noah's Compass is the new one.

The Unexpected Life...

(Photo Meridian.com)
Here's an excerpt from what promises to be a great book based on a real-life concept. Don't we have a tendency to plan for the future and put our lives on hold? Then, when the future we planned doesn't materialize, we go into total hibernation. Kristen learned how to live, then love eventually found her - in the Lord's time frame; not hers.

Beautiful African American Women

A newspaper once said of Sojourner Truth, "Sojourner Truth is too well known to need any endorsements." She lectured for abolition and racial justice, and also for women's rights. She was one of the best known African American women of the 19th century.
Click the post title to be taken to a link for some photos of African American women around 1900. I found them to be incredible. This is black history month so I encourage you to take a look at the feminine side.

I found a good article in Meridian that gives the author's favorite books about African Americans. Check it out: Booklist

Read to Your Child! (And to Yourself)

Jennifer has always been a great one for reading and she has read to her children almost daily for all of their lives. As a result of her reading to him, Adam quickly taught himself to read at age three. He just watched her and it came naturally for him. Now he is also a compulsive reader. If Jenn wants him to learn anything, all she has to do is set a book about the subject on the table and he can't help himself. Usually he'd rather read than eat in fact!

Adam at the concert ~ reading of course!

It's getting dark and he's still reading...
The other night, Jenn was babysitting Jon and Karla's girls and we caught her reading to them. It was about ten at night and they loved it - here's Liz, Emma and Madi with Jenn.

Laura Bush's Family Favorites

This list represents only a sampling of the many excellent books for children, young adults, and families. For more suggestions ask the librarians and teachers at your school or at your public library

(Debbie's note: I have made a few comments in red by the listings of some of my favorites - it's a pretty good list but I'd love to hear your favorites too. If you comment, I will compile a favorites list from my blog readers' experience).

Family Reading

To be read aloud as a family. These titles are also good for independent readers.

• Charlotte's Web, E.B. White (Probably the first time I ever cried from reading a book)
  
• Hank the Cowdog (series,) John R. Erickson
• Little House on the Prairie (series), Laura Ingalls Wilder (I still enjoy these - how fun to see the pioneer settlers through the eyes of a child who lived it)
  
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (You've got to love all the girls' very different personalities)
  
• Old Yeller, Fred Gipson (Still crying...)
  
• The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
• The People Could Fly, Virginia Hamilton
• Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
• Winnie the Pooh (series), A. A. Milne (My aunt Betty gave this series to my kids and the issues were well-worn. I especially enjoyed the verses from When We Were Very Young)
  

Books to Read to and with Young Children

These titles are also good for early independent readers and those children just learning to read.

Bedtime favorites and Lap-time reading:

• Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown (My note: it looks like a very simple, silly book but the little ones LOVE it!)
  
• Babar (series), Laurent De Brunhoff
• Carlo Likes Reading, Jessica Spanyol
• Clifford the Big Red Dog (series), Norman Bridwell (Another favorite of the kids before it was a cartoon on TV)
  
• Corduroy, Don Freeman (Probably my favorite on this list - I have good memories of Jordan - first grandchild - and I reading over and over. I sent one to Japan so he would remember me when he was still very small)
  
• Frances the Badger (series), Russell Hoban
• Hop on Pop, and others by Dr. Seuss (Dr. Seuss is magical! The Foot Book is one of the best for very little ones)
  
• Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
• Mother Goose Rhymes
• Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs, Tomie De Paola
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Simms Taback (I have to sing this one when I read it to them)
  
• Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak (Every parent can relate to this one - sometimes kids are WILD and they have great imaginations)
  
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears, Verna Aardema
• Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, Richard Scarry
• Cuadros de familia/ Family Pictures, Carmen Lomas Garza
• Curious George, H.A. Rey (The movies can never be as good as the book)
  
• Frog and Toad (series), Arnold Lobel
• George and Martha (series), James Marshall
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Laura Joffee Numeroff (I actually prefer If You Give a Mouse a Cookie)
  
• Little Bear (series), Else Holmelund Minarik
• Magda's Tortillas, Becky Chavarria-Chairez
• Officer Buckle and Gloria, Peggy Rathmann
• Sarah's Flag for Texas, Jane Alexander Knapik
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
• The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
• The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
• Tomas and the Library Lady, Pat Mora
• Amazing Grace, Mary Hoffman

Books for Intermediate and Independent Readers

• Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
• Love that Dog, Sharon Cheech
• A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck
• Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
• Adaline Falling Star, Mary Pope Osborne
• Joey Pigza Loses Control, Jack Gantos
• Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
• Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson (A winner my mom/my kids' teacher had them read or maybe read to them - she believed even junior high kids love to be read to, and it's true)
  
• Miracle's Boys, Jacqueline Woodson
• Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein (Jon received this one as a gift and enjoyed it as a child)
  
• Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan
• James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
• Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia Maclachlan (Hallmark recognized this great story and created a great movie)
  
• Ramona (series), Beverly Cleary
• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
• My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
• Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt (My kids were introduced to this one by their teacher/grandmother and we all enjoyed it)
  

Special Comfort Books

• What Have You Lost, Naomi Shihab Nye and Michael Nye
• The Story about Ping, Marjorie Flack
• The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, Judith Viorst (Judith Viorst is probably my favorite children's author and this is good, for comfort, but I LOVE Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - as a result I think all my children memorized it. We all have days like that - even in Australia. And everyone can relate to Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday - where DOES that money go? These books are ageless!)
  
• I Love You, Little One, Nancy Tafuri

Recommended Reading for Adults

• Ship of Fools; The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter, Katherine Anne Porter
• The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Beloved, Toni Morrison
• Music for Chameleons, Truman Capote
• Goodbye to a River, John Graves
• Mornings on Horseback, David McCullough; and other biographies
• Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo A. Anaya
• My Antonia; Death Comes to the Archbishop, Willa Cather
• All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
• Stephenie Meyer series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn - Young Adult section but all ages can enjoy it together) and The Host (You can write best sellers without sex or profanity)
  

Happy Birthday, America!

A couple of good books....

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts

1776 by David McCullough

Source of graphic: www.scrapbookflair.com

New Blog

Krista (my daughter-in-law) also started a blog. It's fun to see the photos and catch up briefly on what's happening. If you want to see hers, there's a link on the right sidebar. Aubrey, my youngest daughter also has one, and three of my nieces - also linked here.

My yard is really shaping up. With all the help I got Mother's Day weekend - it was a real jump-start - I am way ahead of where I usually am at this point. There just aren't enough Saturdays.

I decided life is too short to read books I don't love. It's not like me to abandon a book midway but these days I'm not wasting time like that so I'm sending my current book back to the library. Love in the Time of Cholera is just a little too weird for me and it did not hold my interest. Of course it was following Stephenie Meyer so what would I expect?

Frustrated with Barnes and Noble

I do lots of online shopping and I love it. Usually things go smoothly. But this year I purchased a book for my mom for Mother's Day on April 23 and the purchase was verified to be delivered in 3-5 business days. Even though there's a Barnes and Noble near my home, I decided to save myself some trouble and have it sent to me (also avoid some temptation in the store). Well, it didn't come and I waited too long to find out why - was too trusting that it would come as promised. Turns out it had not been shipped at all. So much for planning ahead. Kind of a long story but I am not happy with them since they had confirmed by email that it would arrive and did not tell me of the delay and offered no compensation for the trouble.

Then I ordered a couple of books from half.com and it turned out they were not sent either and my money was refunded because the seller could not ship. They gave explanation that ebay requires they reveal their sources and the seller could not do that. I think I'll stick with Amazon until they disappoint me too!

Eclipse

I lucked out and the library was able to get me an English copy in just one day! So I'm halfway finished with it. So far it's a little disappointing because the author has portrayed Bella as being pretty dumb in this one. She is much more intelligent than her behavior is showing so far. I guess she is showing how human she really is. We see her teenage rebellious side a little. The lack made the previous book a little harder to swallow. So....

Jon (my son) commented that this is so unrealistic (perfect man hero, etc.) but I said, "what would be the point in reading it if it was realistic?" I read non-fiction for that - or just live life. Escape is what this is all about. I don't do it nearly enough.

Fantasy

For anyone who knows me it is no surprise that I don't get into fantasy. I haven't even read Harry Potter but I just finished New Moon (second in series by Stephenie Meyer) and I'm starting on Eclipse tonight. I'm hooked!

Late note: The Eclipse I picked up from the library turned out to be Spanish!!! I guess the word is the same as in English so the title looked right and of course the author's name was in English - the small print below her name was in Spanish but I was so excited to be able to get the book quickly I didn't look closely. So, I've requested a copy. Hopefully it will be in soon; my Spanish wont' cut it. In fact most of the Spanish I know I learned from the kids in Head Start when I worked there and at least 45% of the kids were Spanish speaking. I learned all the names of the figures on the eye chart anyway.