The result of tagging

1) One book that changed your life.

The Joy of Cooking - Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker

This is a change of pace from what people typically put here. It's a book that I have not read cover to cover, yet it has changed my life. I have always enjoyed cooking, but this cook book is educational, handy, and provides a starting point for my kitchen endeavors. It gave me a lot of confidence to try new things and to make things from scratch rather than relying on the frozen section of the grocery store. Am I a different person because of it? In some ways, yes, because the way I approach my kitchen is different than it used to be. I certainly approach cookbooks differently now. I used to look for recipes in cookbooks because I wanted to make something in particular. I now read cookbooks for fun (strange?) and use them to get ideas for what goes well together and how long to cook things and then make my own recipes. This was also my first cookbook and has started what is now a small but rapidly growing collection.

2) One book that you have read more than once.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Most people probably put a book here that they liked so well they read it again. I actually did not like this book at all. I read it once by choice. I read it the second time for school. I still didn't like it.

3) One book you would want on a desert island.

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

This may well be my favorite work of fiction. I would want it on a desert island for a few reasons. The first is that it is a fantastic book and I could probably read it multiple times and still enjoy it. It is also long book, which might be an advantage under the circumstances.

4) Two books that made you laugh.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

I don't think I have to tell my readers why I laughed while reading this book. It is positively delightful!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach

I never thought that a book about what happens to bodies donated to science would be funny, but this one is. I laughed several times while reading it, while learning a lot.

Yes, I know that both of my books that made me laugh are ones mentioned by other people. Those people introduced me to these books and I enjoyed them, too!

5) One book that made you cry.

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

This may be one of the most depressing, frustrating books that I have ever read, yet it was extremely influential and has lasting benefits today for both workers and people who like to eat food.

6) One book you wish you'd written.

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen

I honestly think that this is the best book that Jane Austen wrote. It is the most complex book with wonderful characters that Hollywood can't figure out how to portray. Interestingly, when I took a class on Jane Austen's work in college, this was the one book that we did not read. I would love to have the kind of creative mind that produced this kind of work.

7) One book you wish had never been written.

The Koran

The world would be a different place without it, undoubtedly still corrupted by other false teachings. I really don't think I have to explain this one.

8) Two books you are currently reading.

Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare

I am enjoying this one, even though Shakespearean works for me were typically school assignments that I endured. In college I finally read one that I really liked, and I am discovering that I probably did not read the others carefully enough to appreciate them.

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

I have been "currently reading" this one for a few years. I just can't get into it. People love it, I know, but I'm having a hard time with it. I have not given up, however!

9) One book you've been meaning to read.

CCNA Official Exam Certification Library - Wendell Odom

Not really a pleasure read, but I do want to learn more about networking. Call it professional development.

***
For the 1-2-3 meme, the directions are:
1) Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2) Open the book to page 123.
3) Find the fifth sentence.
4) Post the next three sentences.
5) Tag five people.

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

"What I remember next is the blinding light of early morning as I climbed out of the fuel tank. I remember turning my face up to the sky, squinting, breathing like the world was running out of air. I lay of the side of the dirt road next to a rocky trench, looked up in the gray morning sky, thankful for air, thankful for light, thankful to be alive."

Tagged: I'm going out on a limb and I'm tagging Dad ;). Anyone else who reads this can feel free to consider themselves tagged as well.

Pictures

Well, Nikki, I really don't have many pictures of Grandmother to post, but I'll post some of what I did scan!

Harkey Family (my great-great grandparents, great grandmother and her sisters)

Artie Harkey Vaughn (my great grandmother), early 1940s

Charlie and Lela (Farmer) Vaughn (my great-great grandparents)

Cecil Vaughn Sr, early 1940s

Charlie Vaughn with Charlene Vaughn (my great-great grandfather and my grandmother), 1928

Arkansas school photograph with my grandmother and her brother, late 1930s

The Poole family (my grandfather with his parents and siblings), late 1920s

Charlene Vaughn (my grandmother) with Ann Poole (my grandfather's sister) on Charlene & Harold's wedding day

Charlene & Harold Poole's first child, Ronnie

A more satisfying post

This is a post that will be more satisfying to the misguided out there who don't understand just how wonderful Bozie is.

1. The trip to CA

It was very nice to go home for a few days, even under unhappy circumstances. The weather was beautiful and warm, which was a much appreciated break from New York winter. I enjoyed seeing Talia again - her first tooth was almost breaking through! Her mommy & daddy posted some tooth pictures on their blog and her grandma & grandpa posted a gorgeous picture of her in her new bonnet on theirs.

I enjoyed seeing the rest of the family, particularly my parents & sisters. It is so rare that we are actually all together! We were only missing one brother-in-law who was away visiting family of his own. I also saw an uncle and aunt whom I haven't seen since I was 14, and a cousin who is now a teenager whom I last saw several years ago (and her dad, who was around a bit more frequently). This is what happens when we all move away!

It was interesting to interact with relatives whom I have not seen in ages as an adult instead of as a kid. There was no table in the back. We, the children, have grown up and sat among them and conversed with them at dinner. That was nice, and brought back fond memories of times when the slightly more extended family got together on holidays when I was a child.

The funeral was nice. I cried through most of it, although I did manage to get through the trio I sang with my sisters without breaking up too much. I won't say much about the service other than that, since thinking about it still conjures strong feelings.

One of the family activities was looking at old pictures that my grandmother had. We picked up a scanner so we could save them while they were still in decent condition. I only got through a few, but this is one of my favorites of my grandmother:

The trip was over quickly and I came back home. I called in sick my first day back (I was legitimately sick and had been for the entire time I was in CA) and then it was back to life as usual.

2. Life as usual

Not much to say here. I've been sick but am better. I was congested with a headache for probably 10 straight days and now have the lovely lingering cough that often follows such joys.

I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my apartment back in order after the recent roommate swap. Neither of us are inclined to be neat now, which is a challenge, because the disarray is really bothering me. I am trying to make sure that I am doing a really good job cleaning up after myself promptly so I don't contribute to it. The living room and kitchen are, for the most part, clean now, so I need to get my part of the office and dining room done as soon as possible. I will say that I really can't wait until first my part is cleaned up and then my roommate finishes getting her stuff arranged. There are some things sitting out because they just don't have a place to go yet!

3. Happy Easter!

I don't think I really have a lot to say on this topic, just that I am grateful! Now what do I wear? My nice yellow dress isn't really appropriate for the weather...

Ode to Beau

There is a small white dog,
A curly little guy,
With big brown eyes,
And a curled tail.
Though covered in warts
His countenance is sweet,
He puts up with a lot.
Above all things
This dog is cute.
Cute little dog,
Banging his side on the cabinet
Demanding, not asking,
Demanding a treat.
Precious dog of my heart,
I'll come see you soon!

There, I updated my blog.

In Memory

Pumpkin or pecan? With or without ice cream? Roasts, black-eyed peas, cornbread, pies and apricot preserves. When I think about my grandmother I think about her kitchen and the wonderful things she made there. She was more than just her cooking and baking, however. She was the smiling face who always tried to find something nice to say to me. I always loved going to her house when I was a kid, although for that stage of my life, I don't think I can really separate her from my dear grandfather. I loved to be with them.

Then when I was 10, he was taken from her. I remember how she mourned him. Her mourning was something that I might expect to read about in a novel. It was as though her life had ended with his, and for a long time she ate very little and did very little.

Then she met Bob. He was a blessing to her in that she started to live more fully again. He spent several difficult years with her as she started to lose more and more of her memory. He took care of her with a very rare patience until she had to be put into a nursing home (he passed away while she was there). I missed most of the nursing home time because I moved to New York not long before the stroke that put her there. I am grateful that I do not have many memories of that, as I prefer to remember her as she was when I was younger. She spent the last two years in the nursing home, until yesterday, when Jesus called her home.

She is survived by three sons, four granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.

She was my last grandparent. I never knew my mother's father, as he died many years before I was born. My father's father died in 1991 and my mother's mother in 1999. She was the only one I really got to say good-bye to, however, as the other two grandparents I had known died while on vacation. Knowing that her health was precarious, I visited her each time I was in California with the thought that it might be my last time seeing her. My last good-bye was the sweetest, because that is when Talia was brought to her for the first time. There were four generations together then, one just starting in life, one nearing the end of life and the rest of us somewhere in between.

This is life as we know it in a sinful world: from dust ye came and to dust ye shall return. Even as such, this twisted part of life hurts. We will remember her fondly as a very big part of our lives that we will miss until we see her again in the presence of our Lord.

I love you, Grandmother, and I will miss you!