Favorite Author Friday - Jane Lindskold

 

Jane Lindskold is a reasonably new find for me. I browsed into her Firekeeper Saga and loved it. Since then I have slowly been working through her other novels. I like her writing style. I find the stories comfortably predictable enough to satisfy my 'potato-chip fiction' need, while still  with enough surprises to keep me entertained. She grew up near D.C. with both parents as attorneys. You can see the influence of that in how she deals with politics in her books- not our world politics necessarily (like an Ayn Rand) but the character's world politics.

The Firestarter books are about a young woman raised by wolves who ends up back in human society dealing with the politics there. Loved these!

The Land of Smoke and Sacrifice novels are really interesting. They're novels based on the Chinese Zodiac and the real game of Mah Jong (not just the matching tiles thing we play on the computer). Only a couple of the books are out so far.

I haven't read many of her other novels. I LOVED Child of a Rainless Year and couldn't get through The Buried Pyramid so I guess I have no definitive answer on the quality of her other books. Be aware her novels are usually pretty lengthy. All over 200 pages, with the Firestarter ones closer to 500-700 pages each.

Here's her bibliography (c/o Wikipedia):
     *once again title in red I have read

The Firekeeper Saga

• Through Wolf's Eyes (2001)
• Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart (2002)
• The Dragon of Despair (2003)
• Wolf Captured (2004)
• Wolf Hunting (2006) 
• Wolf's Blood (2007)

The Athanor series

• Changer (1998)
• Legends Walking (1999)

The Land of Smoke and Sacrifice series

• Thirteen Orphans (2008)
• Nine Gates (2009)
• Five Odd Honors (2010)

Other novels

• Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994)
• Marks of Our Brothers (1995)
• The Pipes of Orpheus (1995)
• Smoke and Mirrors (1996)
• When the Gods are Silent (1997)
• Donnerjack (1997) with Roger Zelazny
• Lord Demon (1999) with Roger Zelazny
• The Buried Pyramid (2004)
• Child of a Rainless Year (2005)

Stories

• Noh Cat Afternoon in Catfantastic IV (1996)
• Queen's Gambit in Worlds of Honor (1999)
• Promised Land in The Service of the Sword (2003)

Let us never speak of this again...

Poop is gross.

Poop from a baby on antibiotics is really gross.

Poop from a baby on antibiotics on your living room floor is indescribable.

Let us never speak of this again.

Water: I Love You...I Love You NOT!!!

Things You Dream Of When You Don't Have Water for Two Weeks:

1. Ice Water
2. Cooking and Eating at Home
3. Doing the Dishes
4. Clean Clothes/Doing Laundry
5. Bathing your Baby at Home
6. Showering 
7. Wiping Down a Counter and Rinsing the Rag

Things You Hate Doing After the 30 Second Period of Gratitude Ends:

1. Doing Back Dishes
2. Doing Back Laundry
3. Wiping Down Two Week Dirty Counters

Oh well, at least showers, baby bathes and ice water are still satisfying.

(picture above from trip to Mexico Sept. 2010)

We Have the Interwebs!!!

Yes, it has finally happen. snaiLs and Ox's have the interwebs in their very own house. We have limped/slimed our way into the modern age. Why, you ask, have we been without said interwebs? Were we morally opposed? Afraid of youthful hackers? Old and crotchety? Well I will tell you in a long, drawn out and probably uninteresting story, interspersed with pictures of my Peanut so you feel obligated to continue reading.

 A long, long time ago there was no 'Nut, just a snaiL and an Ox. It was a time of dates and a clean house and money for sushi. Why is this? Because both L and Ox were working of course! And what did each of them have available at their jobs? That's right...the interwebs! You're so smart! (Ok I'm sorry I'm in the nursery at church and it's possible the grown ups in the audience don't need this question/answer format laced with self-esteem boosting praise).



Anyway back to the story...L and Ox both had the interwebs at their grindstones. In fact, L spent a huge portion of her day communicating through emails, looking things up for helpless students, professors and administrators, and watching The Daily Show.



If something needed to be looked up/read/bought online/blogged about it could be done from the comforts of their office chairs and double monitors during the 40 - 50 hours a week they spent there. Why spend sushi money on home webs?


Fast forward. snaiLs and Ox's powers combine to form...Captain Pla...wait, no...what was it again???... Oh, yes...the Peanut!!! He is so little and good-smelling and nibbley. Mmmmm Peanut.



We move to where The School That Shall Not Be Named shafts good L with broken promises and fake concern. The choice: 50 hours/week with Peanut or without him. Easily decided. And so L joins the ranks of slightly crazy from lack of adult conversation stay home moms.



It is wonderful and delicious and better than she imagined. And yet, something is missing. Oh yes, the interwebs she has become so gloriously attached to.


Sadly:

(mentally interject visual aid of Need/Want of Home Interwebs increasing while Income Left Over After Food/Housing/Peanut Weekly Spa Treatments decreasing)


And so there are still no interwebs. L and the 'Nut survive at home without them. Ox still has access if necessary and board book reading, ball bouncing and dog chasing seem to fill the days. Ahhh a happy and uncomplicated time.


But one day Ox says it is time to treat L to a little glimpse into a world where, "Stop licking the baby" and "Don't eat dog food" are not the only words heard for miles. We pay to have the interwebs delivered to our house right after Christmas.



  
Murphy's Law is enacted.


And our story ends, in early February, with our heroes gaining the prize. Ahh it is beautiful to behold.

Warnings/Notes: All, Some or None of this story may or may not be true and has been embellished to the writers desire. Also this post contains Peanuts. Processed in a factory where Peanuts are processed.

Super Gibs

So Nate's cousin Katie took a super cute picture of Gibson I had to post...
He's wearing the Superman suit my Dad and sister, Hilly, got him. He also has a Batman one (his cousin Cal was wearing it at the reunion).

Change of Plans...

I was going to do a post about Peanut's bath time but I brought the wrong pic to his Grammie's house. Oh well, gratuitous naked shot!

Mother's Day is Awesome

Pancakes, plants, tweezers, flowers, chocolates, poop, singing, candy, spaghetti, Weekend Sewing, strawberry shortcake.

And all made possible by my super cute baby, Peanut (and 36 hours of labor).

A Book You Should Read...

Just read this and loved it. I've been reading a lot lately and need to recommend some favorites but this will have to do.

Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed

It's about a dachshund named Sam, a girl named Heidy, an evil poodle named Cassius and a pound full of crazy dogs. I loved it! Funny with some sad mixed in.

Top Five!!! (how many total again???)

Well I could spend several paragraphs explaining/justifying my long absense from this blog (and the lack of contact with most of you) however, how about we just skip to the fun stuff?

Today Hillary, Peanut and I took part in the Perry Fun Run. It's part of the Perry month and a half long Walk-a-thon we've been doing. And guess what??? Hilly and Peanut finished in the top 5 and I finished in the top 10!!! We will avoid mentioning how many people actually took part in total but I think those numbers speak for themselves---WE'RE AWESOME!

As you can see I'm number 2, Peanut's 2 1/2 and Hilly's 3.

Peanut started out in the stroller but it was raining and we were running into the wind so Hillary ended up carrying him while I pushed the stroller of stuff.

The happy finishers and their loot...

The Tragedy...

Last week I wanted to get some pictures saved off our camera. However, I couldn't find my little green magic piece of plastic that turns the memory card into a flash drive. So I went to Jeanne's and plugged the card into her printer memory card slot. It started transferring but then it said 'error'. And then my pictures were gone and my card didn't work anymore. There went almost all of the pictures I had taken of Peanut. I am perfectly willing to accept advice on this matter but after me, Nate, Jeanne and Josie all tried to fix it I think it's a lost cause.

To help us get over the tragedy here are a couple pics of Peanut Jeanne had.

Peanut with Daddy
Peanut with Mommy
Peanut in his blessing outfit. Jeanne made this.The vest and bow tie are made out of the train of my wedding dress.
Happy Peanut. He says, "Mommy don't worry. You already have more pictures of me than were ever taken of Aunt Hillary her entire life."

Hippy Mom Nonsense - Cloth Wipes

I am a hippy mom. I do crazy things to my baby (and force my husband to do them too). I went without drugs for my baby's birth. I refused the hospital eye ointment. I didn't let them clean my baby until I breastfed. I plan to breast feed at least a year. We use a baby wrap. We co-sleep. We use cloth diapers.

Now cloth diapers will get their own 'Hippy Mom' entry but my sister-in-law is going to send me some she's making me so I'll wait until I have more info to give you (also I just started trying wool diapers and want to have more experience with them too).

Having tried it both ways, I cannot imagine consistently using disposable wipes if you use cloth diapers. The few time we've used disposable wipes we've had to root through dirty diapers to remove them before we wash and we've always missed at least one. What a pain! Plus you can't feel all high and mighty about using cloth diapers and saving money and the environment if you're constantly buying and throwing away wipes. It's lame.

So we use cloth wipes. We have a variety. We have some bumgenius bamboo cloth wipes we purchased, we have wipes that are really baby wash clothes (for some reason we got tons of those), we have pieces of 2 cut up flannel shirts. It really doesn't matter.

We use cloth wipes in 2 different ways. In the diaper bag we have dry wipes and a small spray bottle of my wipe solution. In our bedroom we have a wipe warmer filled with wipes and my wipe solution. They're marvelous. Rarely do I need to use more than one (although to be honest the flannel ones are a little thin and before Peanut starts pooping more than breast milk I'll double them up and sew them together so they're a little thicker).

My wipe solution is a very simple one I made up after doing some very basic research.

Wipe Solution:

1 c water

1/4 c liquid aloe vera*

2 T liquid castille soap (I use Dr. Bronner's baby soap)

2 T oil, plant-based but no nuts (I use safflower oil)

2-3 drops essential oil* (I use a lavender/tea tree combo)

*optional

The aloe and essential oil are optional but I like them. This is freakishly cheaper and has nothing in it to irritate my baby's skin. I highly recommend it (plus it's kind of fun to mix it up yourself- you feel so effective and hippy-ish).

Should you be using disposables or just can't bring yourself to switch over to cloth wipes you can still use this solution to save money and be gentle on a sensitive babies bottom. Just buy paper towels (I've heard Viva are the best for this), cut them in half and use the solution the same as I do. You can even skip the spray bottle and pack pre-moistened paper towels in a ziplock in your diaper bag.

Go and be more hippy....

Dear Work,

You told me when we changed my position from part time to full that if we needed to change it back later we could. You lied.

I talked to my supervisor, she talked to her supervisor. I was going to go back to work part time. I went into the 'firm up details' meeting to find out the next supervisor up said full time or nothing. The feeling was 'shut up and be grateful you have a job'.

Guess what???

No job is worth me being away from my Peanut 50 hours a week (working and driving). We'll do what we can to make the money work. I will see my baby grow up. I will be there for all the important milestones. I will NOT spend 80% of my working time working just to pay child care.

Nehemiah 6:3

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

Happiness is...

going from:

to:

Our heater broke right around the time Peanut was born. We just got a new one. It is the best thing ever!!! I can now move to a different room in the house with Peanut without first taking in the space heater 20 minutes ahead of time. It is also a 95% efficient one so we'll save money on our gas bill AND get a refund on our taxes. So happy!

Dear Peanut,

One day you'll be a teenager and have a strong need to hate me. I submit the following for the view of our friends on the internet to make that hate easier.
You're welcome!

Love,
Mommy

It's a Test

OK so it's been way too long since I've blogged (no internet at home remember...) to actually catch up on everything going on with me, Ox and Peanut. However the birth experience was amazing so I've prepared a short exam to see how well you know what happened...(this picture to help remind you it was all worth it)

1. L has been in early labor (reasonably regular, mild/medium intensity contractions) all day. It is 8pm and she's exhausted. She...

• a. goes to bed immediately


• b. putters around getting things ready for the baby and is in bed by 9ish


• c. decides to make sure she's exhausted (so she can sleep through the contractions when they get worse) and stays up playing games until midnight

2. T/F In triage L is asked not only the same questions she came in weeks earlier to answer (about smoking, medical history etc) but is also asked if she is experiencing any pain (at this point she has been in labor for about 24 hours). The nurse does not find her sarcastic "yes" amusing.

3. Which of the following people were with L pretty much the entire time through labor and delivery (even though the hospital told her beforehand the max was 4 people):

• a. Ox


• b. L's Dad, Papa Shawn


• c. L's Sister, Wendy


• d. L's Sister, Hillary


• e. L's Friend, Amanda


• f. All of the above
  

4. Ox, as L's birth coach, was:

• a. distracted and bored


• b. scared and grossed out


• c. irritated and snappy


• d. amazing and supportive

5. While L labored those in the room performed which of the following services:

• a. getting water/ice/juice


• b. rubbing L's feet/back/side


• c. being back support to lean against


• d. letting L use them to brace her legs against during contractions


• e. all of the above

6a. T/F L did not allow any kind of pain medication during labor or delivery

6b. If 6a is T, which of the following did L do in the midst of labor pains:

• a. hit a nurse


• b. throw the water cup when offered to her for the 8,000th time


• c. scream "this is all your fault" or "we're never having sex again" at Ox


• d. ask for pain medication


• e. tell Ox she was tired and "it was his turn"


• f. stab someone with a needle for talking during a contraction

7. To allow for the possible emergency need of fluids or medications, L had:

• a. an IV


• b. a hep lock


• c. nothing

8. The shower in the birthing room was:

• a. relaxing


• b. warm


• c. like icy needles

9. T/F Instead of wearing a hospital gown, L wore her own dress from home. It has been washed and worn repeatedly since.

10. T/F After watching Peanut's birth, L's sisters and friend, Amanda, are all very excited to get pregnant.

Answers: 1. C 2. T 3. F 4. D 5. E 6a. T 6b. E (although f was threatened) 7. B 8. C 9. T 10. F!!! :)

As I'm Sure You're Aware...

Peanut was born!!!

Oct. 9, 2009 3:20 am

Nathaniel Gibson Mitchell

7 lbs 3.7 oz
20 1/2 in

More updates to come...

Pregnancy Milestones V

Here we go...
1. Peanut has dropped. To explain what this means I will tell you a short story...

Emily, Nate's sister, once participated in a prank war with some friends. One thing they did was to put a bowling ball, holes down, covered in vaseline, into the boys toilet bowl. Imagine that image in your head.

Now replace the bowling ball with Peanut's head and the toilet bowl with my pelvic girdle. You're welcome for that mental image.

2. Reached the 36 week mark which means full-term. Anytime now Peanut can be born and not be considered a 'premie'. This is a stress relieving milestone for any pregnant woman!
3. Set up the car seat (at least the back up car seat; our real car seat is traveling from Cali with my Dad and Hilly)- they won't let you leave the hospital with the baby without it. (ps name the above movie)

4. Created the following lists:

1. Birth Plan
   
2. People to call when Peanut's born
3. Activities for Family to do while in town (so they don't drive me crazy)
4. Where/When/What to spend gift cards on
   
5. Items to be returned (not what you sent us...your stuff was exactly what we wanted)
6. Things to be done on maternity leave before Peanut comes, in order of importance
7. Dad/Son-in-Law Chores for Nate and my Dad to get done while he's here
8. Meals to make and freeze before Peanut comes

I refuse to hear that I might be getting a little ridiculous. Thankfully, Nate has not suggested this possibility.
5. Have officially taken my last trip farther than an hour from home. I'm hunkering down!

6. Finished all birthing and breastfeeding classes. Took hospital tour.

Remember how in elementary school you had to spend an extra hour on fractions because that one kid didn't get it??? These activities are obviously catering to the lowest common denominator... (ha ha. get it? fractions...lowest common denominator...)
7. Started setting up specific days/times for my sisters to come and help me get stuff done. They have their assignments!

8. Created an ipod "Peanut is Born" birth music playlist that I will probably be in too much pain to listen to.

9. Wore stretchy yoga capris to work twice now. Have lost all sense of dignity.

10. Went to a funeral showing where I was the #2 topic of conversation. Strangers touched my belly after touching a dead man. I was not alarmed.
11. Went to bed 3 out of 4 work nights this week, before 8 pm. Once night I was in bed, asleep by 530.

12. Can no longer fit into restaurant booths where neither the chairs nor table move.

13. Last day of work is today!!!!! Put on my out of office, transferred my phone, refuse to help anyone do any course maintenance or classroom scheduling until Thanksgiving!

Tragically Unfulfilled Milestone - My belly button area has gone flat but refuses to become an outie. I was really wanting this to happen. I remember the first time I saw an outie belly button I thought it was way cool. Pregnancy fail!

Snippets

So most of this post is not going to be about pregnancy stuff but I had to remind you...
Any day now, for sure in less than a month, people are going to let me take a real live baby home to keep at my house. Seriously. You have been warned.

Sexy Story:
Ahhh my inherent sexiness strikes again. Last night I awoke at 4am to an awful ear ache. Ear aches for me almost always mean a small sinus infection- which I'm pretty sure I have. I sat up. This cause the bloody nose I'd apparently had for some time while asleep, to start dripping down my face and the back of my throat. I ran (ok waddled quickly) to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I decided to brush my teeth to get rid of the taste. That irritated my already queasy stomach and I spent the next couple minutes crying and vomiting strawberries into the bathroom sink. Nate woke up to come rub my back.

Sad Story:
While Nate was having furloughs at work he started doing some extra work in a mower shop. This mower shop is owned by one of his best friend's dad. It is also one of the local hangouts for the 'Old Men of Perry'. They would come in small groups to sit around the shop and BS. Nate's jokes and attitudes took a definite old man feel onto them during this time. I teased him about it (he is almost a whole year older than me). He talked with them, ate lunch with them and became friends with them. He was already familiar with most of these men but a definite kinship happened during this time.

This last week one of those older men died. He was only 61 or so and Nate really got along with him. Nate's been asked to be a pallbearer. Although we have no doubts he is happier where he is now, Nate has been very sorry to lose a friend. It feels weird to be grown up enough to have friends dying of 'old age'.

Story in Which I Try to Remember I Actually Like Animals:
This past week we were changing the hinges on a door in our hallway. We had let the dogs into the living room and they were lounging around. Hoss, whose attention span is ridiculously low, came over to see what I was doing. I noticed that his foot was glowing like a little girl's night necklace at Disneyland. I yelled for Nate. We searched the living room to find that Hoss had gotten into the first aid/emergency kit and chewed on the emergency kit glow stick. Luckily these are non-toxic. The above is a picture of our couch cushion (sorry for the bad pic it was really hard to get it to show) with glowy stuff on it. The glowy stuff was also all over Hoss and the living room floor.

Happy Story:
We bought this yellow watermelon for $5 off a guy on the side of the road. He threw in a tiny cantaloupe for free. It weighed 45 lbs and was delicious!