The Feeling of a Summer Storm, and a Link to Don-Tay

The sky is purplish with and the air is cool.

It actually feels like there is a summer storm stirring up.

I am so ready to fall asleep. I think I've caught what all three of my brothers had in the last week - I feel feverish even though I don't actually have a fever (yet).

I also felt like I should put this up, just in case: http://www.adoptionri.org/photolisting.html.

~Emily

A Taste of the Freedom of Springtime

I took off my sweatshirt today!

And wore just my t-shirt!

And took a walk in the woods and got lost and talked myself back to the path I had taken and danced all the way home because it's such a beautiful day and I could almost cry and William and Ben and Jack are all playing baseball and so why I am not playing with them?

(Is it my imagination, or do I sound a little like Junie B. Jones? Possibly too much reading time with Will, but I say, so what.)

~Emily

A Natural High

I spoke Chinese with a couple of small children tonight - a two-year-old and his jiejie, older sister (who is four). The children can actually speak English but are partial to their mother's native tongue. Rarely does anything bring me to feel so joyful - I think I am glowing.



I have discovered in the past year that there are two ways for me to acheive a natural high: one, exercise; and two, having a conversation with someone in another language.



~Emily

The First Really Marvelous Animated Film I've Seen in Such a Long Time and Truly Amazing Weather and a Wonderful Free Sunday

Will and Jack are watching Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. I am not.

It's not that I don't like movies, because I actually love movies; but I have been totally uninterested in anything animated within the past few years.

Oh, except there was that one movie.

Coraline. You know, the one that doesn't have to be italicized.

I don't think I really remember the last time I left an animated presentation with an enormous grin on my face, but this one did it, and I guess I had forgotten that animation can be truly lovely in a unique and creative way. This movie made me feel so good. As Lorraine said on http://lorraineamalena.blogspot.com, you will leave this movie believing in magic; and although I did not totally believe her, I left the cinema feeling refreshed and recharged and, yes, believing in magic.

On another note, today was fifty-five degrees F. Benjamin and I took Will down to a local playground and I found myself having more fun I've had on a playground in years. Spring is coming.

It was nice to have a day of improvisation - a day where I woke up and didn't really have any plans for the day. I like being busy, but I also want one free day every now and then. Tomorrow is a busy day, but it's all good work - morning storytime, babysitting, Chinese lesson (always a wonderful treat).

Happy happy Monday.

~Emily

William, Coraline, Library Work, and Junie B. Jones

The new issue of VOYA came out today. My review isn't in this one - will probably be in the next - but this is a great issue. I love the article on librarians who became novelists.

I love library work myself. Shelving books is therapeutic.

So William and I are going to see Coraline tomorrow. (I would italicize it but Coraline is something special, and need not be italicized!) Coraline was a turning point for William - he realized, upon finishing it, that sitting through a chapter book could actually be fun. We have been speeding through the Junie B. Jones books lately. How I do love Junie B. Jones. My favorite has long been The Yucky Blucky Fruitcake and I do so look forward to reading it with Will!

William is out for a sleepover tonight. I miss him. Even one night without him makes me feel kind of empty. It sounds silly, but morning feels like years from tonight.

He is the most precious little thing. I can hardly wait to take him to see Coraline tomorrow.

I guess I'll go back to Answering on Yahoo! Answers. I spend lots of time in the Baby Names category, because it's way too much fun.

I have this thing for names.

~Emily

Number Five

Yesterday the air had such a summery flavor that I wanted to cry every time I took a deep breath. It was fifty degrees F, but I could imagine that the grass was slick and green and the barn swallows would come out to play in the darkening sky.

Today we are undergoing our fifth (maybe sixth) snowstorm. It's, like, way fun.

(cough) I'm ready for spring.

~Emily

Lots About Books, a Bit About Sunshine

In the sky the other night AFTER FIVE O' CLOCK were actual rosy traces of sun. Spring is just that much closer than I imagined ...

I have been reading "The Poison Apples" by Lily Archer -- not really marvelous literature but definitely such good fun that I can hardly stop myself reading it. It was a book that did not get to me in time for review last year. Shame, really, that I could not review such a fun book.

On the other hand, I will indeed have a review in VOYA next month -- 'tis definitely a novel to read, especially if you love fantasy.

William and I just finished reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Coraline is one of my favorite books to read aloud, and Will loved it loved it loved it.

(It's wonderful but not for adults who are, shall we say ... faint of heart.)

I think I need to rest now. The total lack of sunshine today has made me ...

Goodness gracious. Some sun just prodded through the window as I was typing that.

Well.

I think I feel more awake now.

~Emily