More than Rubies: Finally, some sewing

Okay, this post title is a little misleading because I have been accomplishing some hand-embroidered applique on BabySchep's monster quilt, mostly on my lunch break at work. Unfortunately, I keep waiting for the lighting to be just right to photograph my progress, to no avail.

Well, last night, I finally decided to snap a few pics with my iPod while watching Lightning hockey:

Who knew that those empty Huggies wipes boxes would come in handy? Glad I saved them!

Totally ignoring the mess, because otherwise, I'd never sew!

I stayed up until 9:45! You astute observers will note that this is actually an EPP project, and not the aforementioned monster quilt. I've decided to tackle a scrappy quilt--admittedly, I throw away most of my fabric scraps. If it's smaller than a fat quarter, into the garbage bin you go! I just don't have the energy to try to save and organize scraps. Enter hubby--he is more than capable of cutting 2.5 inch squares, so I put him up to it. Now I have a nice little pile of colorful scrap squares, and some nice, neat 1-inch hexies cut by my Cricut.

This is definitely a long-term project, so I imagine I'll have periodic updates on its progress.

In other news, here are the books I've listened to recently:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Surprisingly good. I really felt like I was going to get sucked into an hours-long 80s reference that was going to go completely over my head, but it wasn't all that bad. I primarily played NES games in the 80s, so the arcade game references did little for me. I also only watched a handful of the movies referenced, and hadn't listened to any of the music referred to. Even given my raised-under-a-rock upbringing in the 80s, I've done enough online gaming to appreciate the world the author created to find this a compelling story. That, and my childhood crush on Wesley Crusher makes any audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton an automatic win. I just might watch that film adaptation now.

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Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond by Sonia Shah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well-read by the narrator. She kept me engaged through parts I might have tuned out otherwise. I just can't get enough of these types of books. I feel like I should be racking up some higher ed credits at some online university for listening to all of these.

I really appreciate the author's cause-and-effect approach to the subject. At times I felt like she was blaming modern convenience and society for the spread of disease, but she backtracks from that at the end, explaining that our understanding of our contribution to the problem is key to our being prepared for the next pandemic.

Short and concise, with just the right amount of detail to not bore the layperson, I'd recommend this title to the nerdy type like me.

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Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gosh, I read some weird stuff. Like an entire book about rabies. It was a much lighter read than I expected--after all, how much can you really say about rabies that we don't already know? The author spends a lot of time making correlations between prevailing thoughts about rabies at points in history with the literary and theatrical works of the time. It was quite fun, actually, to revisit old books and movies in my mind and say, "Yeah, I do see how that fits in." It was particularly satisfying for him to end the book with a look forward, suggesting that rabies research could one day lead to treatments that transcend the blood-brain barrier. Yet another book that made me wish I had stuck it out and gone to medical school instead. *Sigh* Back to my law books.

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Missional Motherhood: The Everyday Ministry of Motherhood in the Grand Plan of God by Gloria Furman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow, my first review of this book disappeared into the world wide web. The gist of the review was that this book could have been titled Missional _____, that's how broad of an approach the author took. It was refreshing and frustrating in a way. On the one hand, it's good to be reminded of why we are here--to make disciples. Otherwise, as my pastor once joked, the best thing he could do for us is to hold us under the baptismal until the bubbles stopped! On the flip side, I'm still sorta new at this whole mom thing, and was seeking some affirmation from a Biblical perspective. You won't find that here--the author's approach is more of a "stay on mission, even if you're 'just' a mom." Worth the read for it's spiritual pep talk purpose, but don't expect any practical advice here.

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The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Meh. I should have known I wouldn't care for it, because it's about a zoo. I thought the WWII story would do it for me, but we kept going back to the animals, over and over again. I guess if you like animals, this book is for you. I don't want to detract from the family's bravery--WWII history is full of accounts of people who were brave enough to do the right thing, even at their own peril, but I would have found this story much easier to follow but for all the animal interruptions.

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City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can't get enough of my favorite fictional FBI agent. There's not much to say about it. Either you love these books, or you don't. As usual, there's an outlandish fact scenario behind it all, but that's why you read fiction, no?

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And for a little something different, here are a few of the games my family is playing: