He Sleeps in a Storm

Hello, friends. It's Friday. Yea. I am sure we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief that another week has come to an end. I am happy to say that this one has been heaps better than the last few weeks. That is progress!

I am working a half day and then fly out around 2:30 for Phoenix. I will be visiting my best friend and my sister! Can't wait to see these lovely ladies - and their husbands, of course! The great part about my friend & sister's husbands is that they know me really well - so I am completely myself around them. I love it when you get to the point where you don't edit what you say in front of a friend/sibling's spouse!

Before I take off for the weekend, I want to leave you with something to ponder. I am currently reading "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. I love his writing. I'm about half through the book and have tagged many passages. He has an incredible ability to really make you think about your life and what you value most. Today I want to share a short excerpt with you - it really made me think; hopefully it makes you think, too! It is from a sermon that was given by the Rabbi that Albom introduces us to in the book:

A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, 'He sleeps in a storm.'

The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man.

Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley.

Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly.

So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed.

He runs out to the field. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped in tarpaulins.

He races to the silo. The doors are latched, and the grain is dry.

And then he understands. 'He sleeps in a storm.'

My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have.' We can sleep in a storm.

And when it's out time, our good-byes will be complete. (p. 93)

I think this really sums up how we should live our lives. Don't you?

What's Your Color?

According to this quiz, found via Nicole's blog, mine is yellow:

You are quite the powerful thinker. It’s this talent that allows you to overcome a plethora of great obstacles. Luckily, this doesn’t affect your ego and you give off a pretty easy-going appearance. You enjoy the finer things in life and also have an attraction to art. If you can help it, you try not to rock the boat. But you also can’t stop yourself from searching for new ideas, methods or styles.

I would say that is fairly accurate - except the easy-going appearance. I think most people who know me well would say I am quite high strung...

But I have been quite fond of yellow lately. It makes me think of the sun. And lemons. Both of which I will see this weekend when I am in PHOENIX!!

I leave tomorrow and absolutely can't wait.

What's your favorite color? If you take this quiz, tell me the results in your comment!

Blog Love

The fabulous Anais of Through Green Eyes graced me with Beautiful Blogger award back in December! She recently traveled to Geneva to visit her parents for Christmas and fit in a trip to Paris for 4 days - isn't that fantastic? I might be a bit green with envy - I am head-over-heels in love with Paris!! I wish she could have packed me in her suitcase!! My heart definitely belongs to Paris!!

I also received this award from pinkflipflops last week! I wish we lived closer so we could meet up over a glass of wine and chat about books! She is the brains behind the Blogger Book Club and keeps it going with posts through out the week! Want to weigh in on what we read this month? Hop over to her blog - the voting buttons are up! I am rooting for Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier because I keep hearing great things about that book!

Thanks Anais & Pinkflipflops!

I now have to pass this award onto 7 other blogger and have to tell you 7 things about myself:

1. I wear a sleep mask every night. I am stealing this one from Anais - she's the only other person I know that does this. I have worn one for the last 2 years and the sleep mask is to me what a pacifier is to an infant. You know how infants often need a pacifier to fall asleep because they have an attachment to it and it calms them? Same thing w/ the sleeping mask. So I am basically regressing back to infancy. Great.

2. I'm a total home body. I love meeting up with friends for drinks and dinner, and it's fun to go out in the city, but I prefer to leave the bar by midnight (at the latest). I know my limits - my carriage turns into a pumpkin around 12:30.

3. I used to collect Coke memorabilia. I have no idea how this got started, but by the time I graduated from high school, the shelf that ran along the wall of my bedroom was pretty much covered with coke stuff. And my walls were painted maroon and there was a wallpaper border with a sort of vintage coke label. And I had a coke puzzle that I had put together framed and hung it on the wall. Yah, I don't even drink coke anymore. Nor do I have any attachment to Coke memorabilia but I sure did in high school. Gosh I was a dork.

4. I don't drink soda anymore. I gave up Mountain Dew as a New Years Resolution in 2009 (used to drink 2+ cans/day). Then I gave up soda in August. I will occasionally have a glass of diet coke if I am out for dinner as a treat, but that's the only time I drink it! And I don't miss it one bit.

5. I hate beer. I tried to like it, I really did. I never took to it, though. I was the girl who would show up a tail gating party with a bottle of vodka and a carton of lime aid. It's a good thing I never grew to love it since I now live Gluten Free. From what a hear, GF beer isn't so great...

6. I did Locks of Love back in the fall of 2007 and I would totally do it again! When I went in to get my hair cut off, the hair dresser asked if I needed a moment before she started chopping away and I said no way! I was not sad to see those 10 inches of hair go!

7. I love Burt's Bees Wax Chapstick. I have tubes of it at work, in my purse, and all over my house. I can't stand to be without the stuff!

I know I am supposed to pick 7 people, but I just can't do it. I think all of you are beautiful and I love reading every one's blogs! So you should totally do this post on your blog - or at a minimum, please tell me a couple of random facts about you!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Probably Mint Chocolate Chip. Although Sassy posted about a Peanut Butter cup ice cream that sounds just divine!! I should probably test it out just to make sure it's good. After Lent, I guess (I gave up candy/sweets for Lent). And assuming it's Gluten Free. God I hope it's GF!

2. What is your earliest memory?
My earlier memory was when I got a black eye as a young child. I was probably 4? I was crawling around and basically ran into a chair or something like that (I'm such a klutz). I remember laying in the recliner with my panda blanket (which is currently in my lap as I type this) and being pampered by my mom!

3. What is your earliest memory of a dessert?
Earliest memory is probably this Jack-in-the-Box cake that my Grandma made. It was amazing and to this day, I don't know how it worked. She was an amazing cake maker!!

4. Do you have any recurring dreams?
No, they are crazy, but they never seem to repeat themselves.

5. Have you ever dreamed about dessert?
Nope, I am actually not a big dessert person, truth be told!

6. What is one thing (aside from a cell phone or computer) that you cannot go the entire day without?
My iPod. It is a sad day when I forget to bring it to work with me. When I listen to my iPod, it's like I am in a sound proof room or a different universe. It helps me concentrate and I am way more effective/productive when listening to it! Plus, it kind of keeps people from coming up to me and chatting with me at work. I know it sounds anti-social to say that, but I have so much crap to get done at work, I don't have a ton of time for chit chat.

7. What is one dessert you could go your entire life without ever having again?
Well, that's easy. Anything with gluten in it! So mom's Chocolate Chip cookies & her home made chocolate cake are 2 things that stick out in my mind.

8. If you could go on vacation tomorrow, where would you go? (Assume someone else is footing the bill, but within reason…so “the moon” won’t work)
Paris. I might buy a one way ticket and my very own little Marais apartment. After all, someone else is footing the bill, right?

9. If you could have any dessert tomorrow, what would you have (assume someone else is buying it for you. Within reason though, no “gold sprinkled ice cream cones.”)
I'd go for simple home made ice cream with raspberry on top! Mmm, it's to die for. You have not lived until you've had home made ice cream!!

10. What was your first impression of your significant other? If you’re single, what was your first impression of your best friend?
First impression of my best friend was that she was very stylish and fun loving!

11. What is your first impression of dessert pizza? (Personally, I think it’s weird. I love dessert but I don’t want any on my pizza.)
I am not a pizza person so it doesn't sound all that appealing to me!

Weekend Recap

I had a wonderful weekend at home. Of course it went way too fast, but I should have expected it. Here's my weekend, bullet-style:

This weekend, I...

• watched the Olympics and fell a little bit in love with Aksel Lund Svindal. He is the Norwegian skier who won the Gold in the Men's Super G on Friday night. He's quite dreamy and speaks impeccable English.
• watched my cousin open lots of great gifts at her shower. Can't wait to see if it's a boy or a girl! I will of course be happy either way but am sort of hoping I can put the pink yarn I recently purchased to good use and knit her a baby hat. :)
• had a 'draw off' with my 5 1/2 year old Godson. It was a close competition since I have the drawing skills of a 5 year old. Aside from drawing together, he amazed me with his abilities to count to 100 and write everyone's names!
• learned how to play "Speed Scrabble" - it's very similar to Bananagrams. My grandma beat me both times, but I beat her both times in Bananagrams so I guess we ended the day evenly!
• had a wonderful home cooked meal on Sunday. Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gluten free gravy, asparagus, and home made chocolate pudding. All I can say is YUM!
  
• cried when saying good bye to my parents. I don't know that I have ever cried when saying good bye. I am usually happy to return to my life in Minneapolis. Truth be told, that was not the case when I said good bye yesterday. I just did not want to leave the cocoon of my parents' house. I know I have to believe things will get better at work - I just really hope that is the case very soon.
  

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Home Bound

It's Friday. Amen to that. It has been a long, long week. Actually, it's been a long month. The old adage says that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. So I am not going to get into the details of why the last couple of weeks have really not been fun. Suffice it to say that I could sum up the last weeks or even months by saying I feel as though I have been 'beaten down' - all having to do with work. The candle is being burned at both ends right now and it's just plain wearing me down. I know there are people out there dealing with much worse things, and it could be much worse. But I am sincerely hoping this beaten down feeling goes away soon as it is really wearing on me...

The good news is that I will be going home this weekend. This trip couldn't have come at a better time. It will be wonderful to see my parents, grandma, and other relatives. I might regress back to my childhood and lay on the couch with my head in my mom's lap and ask her to play with my hair. I am sure that might sound childish but there are few things in this world more comforting!

In addition to seeing my family I'll be attending my cousin's baby shower! This cousin is more like a sister than a cousin. She is due at the end of March - can't wait to be an 'almost' auntie again! I think it's a girl!

This weekend will also mark the one year anniversary of my grandpa's death. It really doesn't seem possible that I was writing this post one year ago. I am glad I'll be around my Grandma this weekend as I am sure this will be a tough weekend for her.

I know this is going to be a restorative weekend for me. It will be a weekend full of hugs and laughter. And maybe a game or two of bananagrams or a quick crochet lesson! I've got to start crossing some things off that list!

What are you all up to this weekend?

Book Review: Sarah's Key

Last week, I started and finished Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay. It was one of those books that immediately grabbed me and didn't let go until I had read the final page. I could have stayed up all night and read it the first night, but the reality of my 5:15 alarm kept me from doing that. It is truly a page turner. In this book, Rosnay weaves together two stories - the story of Sarah Starzynski, a Jewish child living in occupied Paris in 1942, and Julia Jarmond, an expatriate journalist living in Paris in 2002. Rosnay skillfully weaves the story of these two together, alternating between the two stories throughout the book.

The book is about an event in history referred to as the "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" which occurred on July 16-17 in 1942. During those 2 days, French policemen arrested approximately 13,000 Jews and sent them onto their death. Rosnay tells the story of the round-up through the eyes of Sarah Starzynski, a young child of 12 that was living in an apartment in Paris. When the police came to arrest Sarah's family, she locked her 4 year old brother in a secret cupboard. Since the police were Frenchmen, she assumed they would be unharmed and would return to their apartment. Unfortunately, she was wrong. The 13,000 Jews were rounded up by their fellow countrymen - men they thought they could trust.

60 years later, Julia Jarmond is writing a story to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of this horrible roundup. She begins to research the events of July 16-17th 1942, and finds that her life is entwined with the story of Sarah Starzynski.

I can't say much more without giving too much away. I highly recommend this book. At points, it was difficult to read It is definitely a heavy subject, but I think it's important to read books based during this awful time. I had never heard of the Vel' d'Hiv - nor had many French people until 1995 when President Jacques Chirac apologized for the complicit role of French police and civil servants. There is a memorial in Paris dedicated to the lives that were lost - I hope to visit it when I return to Paris some day.

Have you read this book? Have you heard of the Vel' d'Hiv? Are there any other WWII books that you have read and enjoyed?