My Year in Books 2017

Hi everyone! A few years ago, I started doing the “My Year in Books” at the end of the year, because I saw it on a friend’s blog. Go check out Lisa’s blog (where I first saw “My Year in Books”); her blog is called Two Bears Farm. The first time I had done “My Year in Books" was because she had done it on her blog. I believe she had done it because she'd found it on someone else’s blog. But I don’t think that blog is up and running anymore, since I can no longer find it. 

Ever since I first participated in the year-end “My Year in Books” theme, I’ve made it a habit to wrap up my year in books on or around December 31st.

The idea is that you take the following prompts and "answer" each one with the title of a book you read during the year. 

So here is "My Year in Books, 2017 Edition"!

Describe yourself: 
Song of the Lion, by Anne Hillerman

How do you feel: 
(Robert B. Parker's) Debt to Pay, by Reed Farrel Coleman

Describe where you currently live: 
The House of Secrets, by Brad Meltzer

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: 
Odessa Sea, by Clive Cussler

Your favorite form of transportation: 
The Western Star, by Craig Johnson

Your best friend is: 
Deal Breaker, by Harlan Coben

You and your friends are: 
MatchUp, by Lee Child (Editor)

What's the weather like: 
Vicious Circle, by C.J. Box

Favorite time of day: 
Nighthawk, by Clive Cussler

What is life to you: 
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley

Your fear: 
Typhoon Fury, by Clive Cussler

What is the best advice you have to give: 
Cross the Line, by James Patterson

Thought for the day: 
The Cuban Affair, by Nelson DeMille

How I would like to die: 
(Robert B. Parker's) The Hangman's Sonnet, by Reed Farrel Coleman 

My soul's present condition: 
Fallout, by Sara Paretsky

So there you have it! What were some memorable books you read in 2017? 

Last Time for the "Actual Santa" duties?

My child is 11. We haven't discussed Santa at all. I just go on as though I think she still believes in him. She doesn't deny she doesn't still believe. She just doesn't admit he's "not real." It's some sort of unspoken gray area, like "knowledge" of his "actual existence" is just fading away with time.

Seems like I'm the only one showing excitement tonight, Christmas Eve, about filling the treasured Christmas plates and glass one more time, the Christmas plates and glass we got when she was nearly one.

The Santa plate is usually loaded with a ton of cookies (I eat some and the rest go to her grandparents on Christmas Day); the reindeer "bowl"? Usually either baby carrots or uncooked oats (which go back where they came from once she's asleep). And then the glass is full of icy cold milk (yes, I drink most of it when I eat a couple cookies.)

She is getting ready for bed at the moment, the Christmas dishes still unfilled. After dinner,  I was the one who mentioned we'd get them prepared just before she went to bed. She didn't even react. (Maybe I'm just excited about it because the cookies and milk are my dessert....maybe this is her unspoken answer that she doesn't believe in Santa anymore?)

As soon as she's ready for bed, I'll tell her to get the Christmas dishes ready for Santa. I'm going to go through this charade one more time. I'll probably do it again next year on this day, if she doesn't object. Maybe she'll let me pretend one more time.

In the morning, under the tree, there'll still be gifts from family and gifts "from Santa" in the morning - the gifts from Santa being in her stocking - gift cards for iTunes, the book store, a new memory card for her camera, some treats (chocolate covered espresso beans and candy canes, etc).

In the meantime, Merry Christmas, everyone.

Some of the decorations at our church during Christmas Eve Mass. 

Jock's View

Jock LOVES playing in the snow. And we're finally getting some, though it seems to just be a dusting.

When it's time to come inside, he parks himself in front of the sliding glass door, to survey "his domain."

Christmas Time 2017

I used to live in the Southwest (El Paso, TX, Tucson, AZ, and Alamogordo, NM). I feel like the Southwest is most like "home" to me, even though I've lived all across the country.

But, since I no longer live there, I enjoy having little touches of the Southwest where we now live (eastern Iowa).

I have some chile* pepper lights, some Southwestern ornaments on the tree, and a Southwestern style ladder I'd gotten in Santa Fe way back in 2006.

*(Note, I didn't say "chili" pepper: "chili" is that stew-like meal with meat, sometimes beans, and chili powder spices, along with other ingredients. "Chile" is what you call the actual "chile peppers," such as jalapeño, Serrano, Hatch, habanero, etc.)

Anyway, I always like the glow of the chile pepper lights that I wrapped around my Santa Fe ladder.

I'm sitting in the kitchen with Jock and a cup of coffee, enjoying the Christmas lights and the Christmas tree, before the rest of the family gets up.

Thinking of Summer 2018 Already

While I certainly don't mind cool (or cold) weather,  I LOVE autumn, by the way, I love the first snowfall (or any light, fluffy snow), and the beauty surrounding the holidays. . . I have to admit I've been planning our Summer 2018 activities already.

By the way, here's my view as I look out my bedroom window (currently 30°F with a 25°F wind chill):

See, my daughter attends Culver Summer Schools and Camps - more specifically, she attends Culver Woodcraft Camp. She has attended for the past few summers, and LOVES it. She has a couple more summers before graduating and becoming an alumna of Culver Academies.

The application for the following summer usually happens mid-autumn (usually around October) of the current year.

So technically, we've been planning for summer since October. Even though there's no doubt in our minds that she will be accepted (and already has been at this point), we still have to fill out the application (the sooner the better), so the camp's administrative staff can process it and hold a spot for her in her unit. I say "the sooner the better" because as fall turns into winter and then spring, there ends up being a significant waiting list for kids trying to get a spot in camp (they only have so many cabins and beds).

The "Culver Academies" also function as a high school during the school year (of which I'm an alumna), so they are busy year-round. And it's on a beautiful campus, so I find myself daydreaming about being back. The campus is mostly pedestrian, with various parking areas around the edge of the campus, so it's nice being able to walk around (which helps me get my steps in every day, and also it's just good to get out and walk).

A few pics of the beautiful campus:

 The view from the front porch of my daughter's cabin. 

View of Cardinal Creek. 

 Interior view of the Culver Memorial Chapel, from the balcony. 

Exterior view of the Culver Memorial Chapel, from the northeast corner. 

Lake Maxinkuckee and the Culver Ledbetter

So. . . in looking for a few pics to share I got carried away browsing through all the photos on my phone, remembering good times from this past summer. 

My prompt for sitting down and writing this post, though, was an actual detail my husband and I are working on in planning for next summer. We are looking for a dog-friendly rental for us to stay in while we spend some of our time out in Indiana, in Summer 2018. A little earlier this morning, I had gotten an exciting text from our realtor friend who has a fantastic house available for us. We stayed at it before - for the last week of camp in 2016, and we all liked it. Plus, it was in a convenient location in town.  

Unfortunately, it was not available for us at all in 2017. Rentals go FAST in this town in the summer (it's close enough to both Chicago and Indianapolis, and on a beautiful lake, so people go there to spend their summers in a beautiful lake town), so you have to plan well in advance to secure a reasonably priced place. Also, people like getting rentals for the school year (approximately Sept - end of May), if they have children attending the boarding school. 

We are getting a head start, and lining up a rental NOW (or rather, soon after the holidays), so we have a place to spend with our daughter and Therapy Dog Jock. 

The realtor's text got me all excited about heading back next summer! I think I'm as excited as my daughter. She gets fun in the sun with her friends, and I get to go back and walk a beautiful campus, and seeing my daughter have a blast, and catching up with my own friends who are back with their children and/or nieces and nephews, and some who are there in an administrative capacity at the Academies. Plus, there are some good restaurants in the area. 

Anyway, now I have to try to be patient for the summer! 

Anyone have plans of their own for next summer?

Jock's Therapy Updates

Hi all! Thought I'd give an update on the therapy animal visits Jock and I do.

So, we had a few visits in October and November to the University of Iowa College of Law, where Jock provided much needed stress relief for future lawyers in the midst of their fall semester midterms and preparations for finals.

The students often get down on the floor with him. I usually have a towel for him to sit on, but he moves off it, as he sees fit, if he needs to cuddle up with someone.

He really seems to enjoy our visits to the law school. He usually has "repeat visitors" that love getting down on the floor and sitting with him for a few minutes, as time allows between classes. He also seems to have a "Corgi Fan Club" because there are a number of law students who LOVE Corgis. 

We even had a visit one day, when a bunch of students had called over one of their professors (in between classes) to introduce him to Jock. This particular professor actually got down on the floor - flat out on his back! - to get a selfie with Jock. He was excitedly uttering, "OMG, it's a Corgi! We have a Corgi here! I've got to get a pic!" SO FUNNY! 

I was impressed, though.  I guess I think of law professors as being straight-laced, in suits (or other very lawyerly outfits), and being quite stern or serious - not the kind of person in a nice sweater and corduroy pants, who laughs a lot and gets down on the floor with the visiting therapy dog. 

We weren't able to get out there during December, while they have finals. We will be back during the spring semester, though. I'm looking forward to it, because the students and faculty/staff appreciate it so much. They get so excited!

Jock and I also do regular visits, about once a week, to a local assisted living facility. We actually volunteer through a hospice service, who placed us with a few patients at this particular nearby facility. At this point, we're down to one patient assigned to us, with whom we visit once a week. We also stop and say hi to a few staff members who like to greet Jock as we walk down the halls. 

They usually have seasonal decorations both inside and outside the facility. I usually try to get a pic of Jock next to one of their cute decorations, when the seasons change. 

And lastly, Jock and I have an interview of sorts at the University of Iowa (UI) Stead Family Children's Hospital in January. I've been wanting to take him to visit a pediatric ward at the local hospital, but they apparently have a wait list or something at the two local hospitals. And the one has very limited hours in which they allow therapy animal visits (during the evenings when I'm busy taking my daughter to extracurricular activities). 

So I reached out to the UI Children's Hospital, to see if Jock and I can start volunteering there. They actually have a therapy animal program called "Furry Friends," where they have therapy animal volunteers come in on a regular basis to visit with the kids in the hospital. 

There is a detailed process to become a therapy animal team with the "Furry Friends" program, including a detailed application, background check, some training, and this interview. 

So, hopefully, we'll be able to start volunteering to cheer up the children at the hospital early in the new year! Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't take too long before Jock starts brightening these kids' days. 

Okay, that's it for now. Hopefully, I can do these therapy visit updates a little more regularly, and they won't all be this long. 

It's That Time of Year

Hi, Santa! I want some squeaky toys, and more tennis balls, and treats, and time to run around, and . . .

Will you play with me?!

A "Welcome Back" is in Order

Hi all: I know, I know! It's been MONTHS since I've last posted.

Gotta explain: my desktop computer died earlier this year, and it was my only computer. Didn't have a working laptop or tablet, either. Just the smart phone. And it's a pain in the you-know-what trying to do blog posts on a tiny screen typing with just my thumbs. So I "gave up" posting while I was temporarily computer-free.

I mean, I can use the public library's computers, but when I'm at the library, I only have limited time to get other, higher-priority things done, saving the blogging for "when I have time at the end" . . .which usually ends up not happening. And when I'm rushing through my limited computer time, the "creativity muses" don't tend to stop by. Hence, no blogging occurred for me at the library.

However, thanks to the recent generosity of my mom, she helped me buy myself a new laptop as a Christmas present from her (and myself).

So, this is a "welcome back" post.

Now, I know the last thing I posted about was about our dog, Jock, being a new Therapy Dog. Well, he's now got a year's experience under his belt! And he's getting really good at it.

As a matter of fact, we were visiting one of our regular hospice patients recently, and the fire alarm went off (it ended up being a false alarm). As I'm sure you know, it's an ear-piercing, uncomfortably loud sound, those fire alarms. Jock was a very good boy, though. He didn't cry, whimper, bark, or freak out in any way, during the fire alarm! He stood next to me quietly, but in an "on alert" stance, ears up.

When the alarm was silenced, one of the hospice employees commented on how calm Jock was during the alarm!

Here's Jock next to the bed of one of our regular patients. 

 

He and I have also been to the University of Iowa's College of Law a few times, providing law students with stress relief. Now, thats a lot of fun! They get really excited to see him, and so do the faculty members. One law professor even got on the floor and took a selfie with Jock! And we have some "regulars" who are HUGE Corgi fans, who always spend a few minutes with him. 

Bt the way, if you're on FaceBook, you can look for "TherapyDogJock" to find his page, where I post pics of him, and informational tidbits from his veterinarians' office and Pet Partners. 

I'll be back again, soon, to post something new! It's nice to be back.