To the Lighthouse

And all the lives we ever lived
and all the lives to be,
are full of trees and changing leaves,

she murmured, sticking her needles into the stocking. And she opened the book and began reading here and there at random, and as she did so she felt she was climbing backwards, upwards, shoving her way up under petals that curved over her, so that she only knew this is white, or this is red. She did not know at first what the words meant at all.

I finally finished reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. I loved the passage above - I think it is a wonderful way to articulate the processing of any kind of art or media that we find beautiful without perhaps even understanding why or what it means. It may even sum up how I feel about this book. Maybe.

The book is definitely a modern piece and, as I've implied above, I haven't quite digested it yet. Not because it's shocking or bizarre or overwhelming, but because it is very much the style of that period (It was published in the late 20s) so it is more about what the characters are thinking and their own subjective experiences than it is about a narrative. That being said, there is a plot and the writing is good. It's just the author isn't leading you down a path but rather presenting you with the insides of the characters' heads in about as organized a fashion as she can. It's a short novel and I think I may reread it next month. It reminds me in some ways of Willa Cather's The Professor's House in both the style and my own response to it.

Okay, that's all.

Birthday Weekend

My birthday was on a Saturday this year, so I didn't have to take a day off of work. [Every year I take my birthday off out of principle.* It's very celebratory to not be at work on one's birthday.]

Saturday morning / afternoon we...

• Slept in
• Took calls from family (Highlights include one singing of "Happy Birthday" by my mother-in-law accompanied by my youngest brother-in-law on the flute and my nephew Brady (now 3 1/2) telling me my birthday was "gonna be jus' won'erful!")
• Rode bikes on the coast in Pacific Grove (near Monterey & Carmel). 68 degrees, people!
• People & dog watched in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Saturday evening we...

• [I] blew out candles that Bruce crammed onto cupcakes for me. The one in the middle had like 10 in it.
• [Bruce] gave me balloons! I luuurve balloons. They were pink & red and also there was a sparkly/shiny one. 
• Watched Flipped per Merzy's recommendation (I especially liked that it is PG!)

Sunday my family had a birthday party for me. My dad made lemon chicken and banana cake (With fresh banana filling and cream cheese icing. Wowza!) It was so good to be with my family and to blow out candles again. Turns out that is a necessary party of birthdays for me.

Valentine's was equally if not more fabulous. Mostly it involved Costco lasagne, homemade salad by Bruce, leftover birthday cake, and a work call at 10pm with Singapore / Denmark. Ha! In spite of the work call it was chill and great.

xoxo
kt

*This principle was founded in 2007 -- the last time I did not take off my birthday. In that year, my birthday was on a Monday AND the night before I had JUST gotten my FIRST kiss from my new/pending boyfriend. I went into work that morning to find flowers from this love interest and then promptly left them (and him) to go on a work trip. Yes, the evening of my birthday I was on a plane to Denver (in February, mind you). And it just so happened that it was on Wednesday, February 14th at approximately 10pm that I returned from said trip. So both my birthday and Valentine's Day were sabotaged by work. And, I might add, a year later the client in Denver de-booked. Hence, the principle.

3 Things

1. My baby brother Stuart got engaged on Wednesday. Her name is Barb. The date is July 15th. She's pretty cool and we approve.

2. I cut the very tip (think fingerprint*) of my left index finger on Thursday night grappling with a butternut squash**. Bruce came home and took me to urgent care where they couldn't sew or glue it back together as it was no longer attached (Bruce found it on the knife when we got home***). 10 layers of surgicell later, my finger will be bandaged for approximately 2 weeks. Also, I got called to be the organist at church on Sunday. Have I mentioned how much I appreciate God's sense of humor? Because I do.

3. My older sister found out today that child #3 she is expecting in June is not boy #3, but a girl! This is the first granddaughter on both sides and my and Bruce's first niece. Needless to say, we're all very excited!


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*I may or may not have a fingerprint when it heals. I'll let you all know how it turns out.
**Yes, I know that Costco sells pre-sliced butternut squash.
***Yes, he took pictures.

I hope you enjoyed the clip art. Adds a bit of class to the blog, I think.