Spring may finally be here

It seems that my update schedule has moved to every two weeks. I'm going to try to get back to a weekly update.

The snow has finally all melted from our last snow storm on the 14th. I was reminded that It snowed pretty hard (about 3") on April 14th, 2002. I remember complaining about it on an online forum and an acquaintance who had just returned from Brazil was complaining more bitterly than the cold. The trees are budding, leaves are leafing, and we've had a series of rain storms move through. My grass has been cut once and I'm planning on getting to it this weekend again for a second. The Spring semester has one week left before graduation and our department is geared up for the summer. I've had a lot of fun in the mornings watching the clouds roll through Cache Valley, sometimes bringing rain, but I don't need to turn on my lights very often, my window lets in a lot of light when when it's mostly cloudy, like now.

The kids are excited about the change in weather because it means they can play outside more and longer. Our neighbors, who have six kids, do a lot outdoors, often riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac (French for bottom of the bag). Kanga is a lot more interested in learning how to ride her bike while Tigger is still unsure about it. He likes the idea of a bike, but his perpetual hesitance gets in the way of trying it. We took Kanga's pedals off so she could practice balancing and she's gotten pretty good at it now. She may be ready for pedals soon. Last night when I came home I had to pull through the whole herd as turned into the street. It did my heart good to see them all playing. Everybody in the cul-de-sac is careful about the kids and the kids do a good job of steering clear of cars. Reminds me of my own childhood.

Leeroy, Spock, and Raptor are still living with us as they have had difficulty finding land and a house. It is not for lack of trying and they are currently under contract on a plot ten minutes away from us. They have moved out to their trailer, which has freed up the TV room. It has been good to have them with us. They help out with expenses, meals, cleaning, and watching the kids. It will be good to have our house back to ourselves and it will also be bittersweet when they move out.

Angel and I are looking forward to summer and working on a few projects around the house and yard. With the new job we have some funds for these projects. Unfortunately, the first one is replacing the roof. I'm also in the process of pricing out the cost of a new shed and greenhouse. We've had less than mediocre luck with gardening. Mostly because we've had difficulty keeping up on it. I did have a chance to prune three of my trees a couple of weeks back and I'm hoping we get some good fruit. The pear and peach are looking good. The apples - well, it could be an off year for them, we'll just have to see. The magnolia is blooming beautifully and we'll probably start having Monday dinners on deck soon.

All in all, life, like the seasons, is looking up. 

Audible Book Review - Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger Finishing School book the Fourth

And I'm still struggling keeping up but here it is. The last of the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger. When we cancelled our Audible Account both Angel and I were sad that we wouldn't have ready access to this book when it came out. Luckily my new job enabled us to renew our account just in time. There was no question that this book (which had come out late last year) was getting picked up. Here is the link to the Audbile page for the book. The series is now complete and, from what I understand, ends with everything in place for Carriger's 1st book Soulless to start up. Muscles has told us that while she enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate books she recommends them sparingly, the same way I recommend the Monster Hunter and Dead Six series. I don't know that we'll pick up any of those books we we've enjoyed the Finishing School books. The last book was narrated by Moira Quirk, like the others, and like the others she did a great job.

Plot: Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy Young Ladies of Quality is in more danger than ever. With the Picklemen maneuvering to take over mechanicals all over the kingdom something most be done. And the most capable people of doing anything about it tend to be the first targets. Sophronia is determined to make sure that those who are seeking control don't get it, but that's hard to do when you don't know how they intend to take control. With Agatha and Dimnity, Sophronia tries to figure out what is the Picklemen's ultimate goal. However, can she survive finding out?

My personal favorites: The story is great and the characters are a lot of fun, as before. The action was good and suspense was well done. I liked part where Sophronia was "behind enemy lines" and had to find ways to handle herself with danger all around her. I thought the ending was satisfying. I didn't mind Sophronia and Soap's relationships and I thought the interactions were fun.

Considerations: There is more violence in this book as well as more sensuality, but I still consider it appropriate for young adults. There were no graphic descriptions or language to worry about. The book was on par with the others.

I was glad to listen to this series and enjoyed the presentation very much. As I said, we probably won't pick up the Parasol Protectorate, but I am curious about the Custard Protocol. The total length of Manners and Mutiny was just under 10 hours.

Audible Book Review - The Dresden Files books 3-12 by Jim Butcher

So I haven't posted a book review in a while because I wanted to get through all the books I had in the series. Thanks to my cousin I was able to get audible versions of the bulk of the Dresden Files that I started reading a could of years ago. SO, you can consider this a review of Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Knight, Small Favor, Turn Coat, Changes, and Ghost Story. It was a lot of listening, about 154 hours, give or take a hour or two. They were all narrated by James Marsters who was marvelous. I really like Butcher's writing and despite listening to a adventure/thriller series for almost three months straight I rarely tired of hearing either about the story or James Marsters' voice. There were a couple of times when I would feel annoyed with an attitude or action that the Dresden had decided to take, but without fail the next time I started listening had me back in the story and loving the characters in a matter of minutes. This says a lot about an author. It took me twice to get through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix because I was so annoyed with Potter's attitude but when I got annoyed with Dresden I just had to give it a minute and I knew that Butcher would suck me right back in. I'm not going to try to provide a plot summery for each book, but, in Butcher's own words, Grave Peril is where the much larger story arch gets started and, while it is still moving forward at the end of Ghost Story it does wrap up a pretty big part of it. Harry Dresden is far from done. As of this writing there are two books and an anthology that are past this. I'm going to see a friend next month who has promised to help me get the next couple of books, so I'll review those when I get done with them. It may be a bit. Despite enjoying Dresden, I may need a bit more time before getting back into his story. It's pretty intense and a change of pace and palate is nice every once in a while. Can I just say I really don't like the way Blogger arranges pictures?

Plot: Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard private investigator, is not known for holding back when innocents are in danger. Luckily he is not alone. Through his contacts in the supernatural world Harry has met righteous knights (complete with swords and shining armor), a pack of young werewolves, small time practitioners, necromancers (complete with zombies) gangsters, demons, ghosts, vampires, the Fae (Matrons, Queens, Kings, Ladies, and Knights - all worthy of the capitol letter), shades, fallen angles, mercenaries, oracles, and, or course, fellow wizards. All of whom want him to work for them, kill him, or are willing to help him. His job is to know which is which. When war breaks out and Harry starts to lose friends and allies, he finds himself stretching and pushing himself more and more. With every victory he finds himself losing something. The question is how far can he go before he bets too big and loses it all.

My personal favorites: Butcher has created a cast of heroes, villains, gods, and demons that are anything but two dimensional. and are all intriguing. Whether it's the polka loving Butters, the mysterious gangster Markon, the relentless Warden Morgan, or the good intentioned Molly - and these are predominately side characters - the cast is well envisioned and well developed. It's incredible to see each character go through their own story arc and experience their own triumphs and failures. Karen Murphy, Dresden's closest friend, is a delight in and of herself. Unfailing in her loyalty and stalwart in her duty she backs Dresden to the hilt (literally on occasion) and reaps the rewards and the consequences. Butcher does an incredible job of showing us exactly what Harry's actions lead to and many of them are not pretty. The action is very well written and the story arc is both vast and intimate. All in all, fantastic writing.

Considerations: The books do have occasional strong language. I would be surprised to be reminded of that fact, but did not find it used inappropriately. There is also sensuality, some books don't have much, others more so. The most blatant sexual references were in Death Masks which was a little intense with some brief, limited, graphic descriptions, Despite all the violence and the supernatural aspects there aren't a lot of graphic descriptions of violence. On par or less than Corriea's books. I probably wouldn't recommend these books for young adults, even older ones. For anybody else, go for it.

Going through these books was quite a ride. They were a big help in handling the stress of job searching and starting my new job. I've recently finished another new book and the audible version of an old favorite that I need to review. I'm also re-listening to Crystal Keepers as I'm anticipating getting the new Five Kingdoms book next week. My wife is thinking about picking up the latest Lockwood & Co. even though she's already read it. She really likes the productions on Audible and I have been encouraging her because I have not read it yet. So, yeah, lots of stuff on my plate - reading wise. The Dresden books were great and I will finish the series. It's just a matter of time.

Brownies

I made brownies the other night. They were from the American Test Kitchen's book, which I love dearly. The recipe calls for cocoa powder, semi-sweet chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate pieces. It makes for a very chewy and very (very) rich flavor. Angel normally has problems with the intensity, but I really like them. I had one for lunch today and just sat there and enjoyed it.

Perhaps the fact that I made brownies has no real significance but where I ate mine today did. Today marks the first month in my new job. It's been an interesting month, but a very good one. I enjoy the people I work with and the work that I'm doing. I'm back at Utah State, this time on the Logan campus. Interestingly enough my commute is about the same as my last job. Shorter in terms of miles. I'm working with prospective students and while I don't get to see them directly I enjoy being able to be of service. I also get to coordinate with advisors and program coordinators of both undergraduate and graduate programs, some of which I knew from my previous work at USU.

It certainly has been a bit of a shift. I've worked front line positions for the last nine years, but not now. If a student were to walk in my office now I would be very surprised. None the least because I'm located on the forth floor next to a conference room and down from the marketing cube farm. This is not a location where students have any business being. I have two Nerf guns at my desk just in case one of the marketing's battles spills my direction. I also have a wall to wall, floor to ceiling window looking west over campus to the Wellsville mountains. I keep my windows in the morning, but have to drop the shade blinds in the afternoon.

I think I've reached a point where my routine has become pretty standardized. I've been able to work in a 30 minute work out every day and I get home at the time I like. My daily work consists of making sure things are up to date, potential students are contacted, and following up with previous contacts. In the future We'll look into working with the marketing department on recruitment for online programs. I also know that I'll be meeting with the executive vice-provost and department heads about developing future programs. The work is interesting and I enjoy it.

I hope to get back on a regular schedule of posting again. I've got ten or eleven books to review or rather a series of ten or eleven books that I need to review. I'm back on Audible so expect to see more reviews in general. And I need to post about Kanga's baptism. Now I really feel bad. Oh, well. It will happen.

Bittersweet choices

This was the subject line of an E-mail that I sent out recently to my colleagues at work. It is because, that morning I had made the choice to take a job at another university. It was not a hard choice to make. The compensation would enable me to better support my family and it would help me to grow professionally in ways that I wasn't able to in my current position. The offer was the answer to months of prayers and searches. It was a very easy choice to make. It was also a very bittersweet choice. I'll be leaving some of the best people I've met here. And that saddens me.

I think that there are lots of bittersweet choices that we make. They are the choices that improve our situation but move us away from things we enjoy or love. They do not eliminate opportunities but they do limit them. There have been four times when my wife and I have been separated from each other for extended periods of time:
When I got a new job while she was expecting our oldest child.
When our second child was born and spent three months in a NICU.
When my wife was dealing with some acute medical difficulties.
When she got a job close to our parents while I was still working away from them.

Each of those times saw us apart for six weeks or more. I would drive up to visit on the weekends, but otherwise we could only communicate via technology. All of those choices were easy to make. All of them were necessary to make. The alternative would have been worse for everyone. And all of them were bittersweet.

"Bittersweet" is an informative expression. The choice is pleasant and inciting but with undertones of sadness. From the sense of taste alone, bittersweet flavors tend to be richer or more complex, leading to a more robust sensory experience. I think the same is true of bittersweet choices, they lead to richer and more robust experiences. I am thankful for bittersweet choices because they help me look forward to something new and help me to appreciate what I have.

Time passes

It's amazing how time passes without noticing it. It's been over three weeks since I posted here and don't even get me started on my other blog. The sign on Brigham City Implement (our local marque that shares words of wisdom) currently says something along the lines of "Anyone who things a minute goes by quickly hasn't been on a treadmill." This reminds me of the comparison, often contributed to Einstein - Put you hand on a hot stove for a minute and it feels like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it feels like a minute. That's relativity. I've noticed that when I'm busy and content time passes slowly in the moment but upon hindsight seem to have flown by. I don't know if it's a function of memory that I can't remember the time that has gone by, but I suspect it is. We tend to remember negative emotions more than positive, so when things are happy or content it tends to make time go faster.

Understanding that, it's no wonder that time seems to be moving pretty quick. While things are far from perfect, they are still very nice. Kanga and I finished The Hobbit and started reading the Adventures Wanted series by M.L. Foreman. Tigger is doing better at staying dry and is improving in his reading. And Roo has become become predominately bipedal. Angel still loves being at home and my responsibilities at work haven't changed much. Money is tight, but it always has been, and we have Leeroy Jenkins, Spock, and their little girl (hereafter called Raptor - for her cute dinosaur noises) have moved in with us while looking for property to build on. It's made things a little cozier but it's worked well for the time being. I've enjoyed Leeroy picking me up from work as it means I get home a lot faster than when I take the bus.

All in all, I can't complain about life. It is good and treats us well. We are warm, fed, clothed, and I have a job. Yes, there is more that we would like (like to reactivate our Audible account) but opportunities are being explored and developed so I can't complain.

Book Review - Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

My coworker mentioned the character of Amelia Peabody one time when we were discussing books and I was a little intrigued. I enjoy a good hero/heroine and Peabody sounded like somebody up my alley. I was finally able to make a trip to the library AND remember the name of the author and book, so I was able to pick it up. I started reading it on the bus and then found myself reading it at home and finally finished it on a day that I had off when I woke up early. As I suspected, I enjoyed the character of Amelia Peabody and the situations she found herself in. It was a pretty quick read, what I would expect from a paperback mystery, but it was satisfying. I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures, and will probably fit them in between other books as the mood takes me.

Plot: Amelia is the youngest child of a scholarly father. She grew up studying with him and gaining a pleasure out of learning about dusty tombs and ancient mummies. When her father died and left her with an unexpectedly large amount of money she decided to live her dream and winter in Egypt. Not quite a full feminist, but still rather progressive for the 1880s Amelia is a direct women that will not be swayed or moved if she doesn't want to be. She is delayed in Italy on her way to Egypt but it throws her in the path of Evelyn, a young English woman who has found herself in deplorable circumstance and who Amelia takes under her wing as a traveling companion. The two of them reach Egypt and begin their cruise down the Nile. But new friends and old acquaintances muddy the waters of Amelia and Evelyn's trip. When a mummy goes missing, only to reappear on its feet Amelia is determined to clear the waters and see that everything ends in proper fashion.

My personal favorites: Amelia and Evelyn were great period characters, showing two different personalities in similar situations. I liked the way the two played off each. The mystery was fun - not your classic murder mystery but still engaging. The Emersons, Lucas, and the other characters were all interesting. I really liked the setting and the historical events were all fun.

Considerations: It's important to remember that this is a period book, so the characters are concerned about some things that modern readers might consider important. Beyond this, there was nothing I would consider questionable.

I enjoyed Crocodile on the Sandbank and will undoubtably pick up more Elizabeth Peters' books in the future. I can see them as becoming a mystery Louis L'amour, something to grab when I'm in the mood or as a palette cleanser after a heavier novel. All in all it was a good read. The total length was 352 pages.