A successful failure

I am, overall, disappointed in my 30 posts in 30 days project. I was on such a roll when I started, then stalled out with only 18 posts done by the last day of the month. I will say that even with only 18 posts I managed to top my annual output for 2010, but still...

Then, this morning, I realized that I could probably pump out 12 posts today. So I did (see below for my "Best of" 2011 series). Now I feel a little bad that I wrote 12 posts in one day instead of spending more quality time with my kids, though I don't really think they missed me.

So there you go. It's November 30th. This is my 30th post this month. Project: done. I may even do it again next year, though perhaps then I'll have better success at posting once a day. How lovely and moderate does that sound? But if that fails, there's always another "best of" series. It's a beautiful thing.

Best idea of 2011

Well, to be fair, the idea came last year. But this year was all about fruition. Seriously, it's the best idea we've had in a long time.

Best continuing editions of 2011

It's easy for big siblings to get lost in the nuttiness that accompanies a new baby, but these two have not had a moment of jealousy. They are sweet and kind to Cole, they take prodigious care of each other, and they remain two of the sweetest apples of my eye.

(I have to give credit for these great photos to my friend Laureen. She has a great eye and a love for children--a perfect combo.)

Best opportunity to peer into Earth's gaping maw of 2011

One of the most unique things about living in rural Missouri is that we get to read our own water meter (which is fun to say with an affected British accent, as I learned from my sister--Holla, Megan! Try it: Wuah-tuh Mee-tuh. Be sure to be lilting).

The first time we were scheduled (shhheduled?) to read our own meter, I actually couldn't find it. I walked around and around the house looking for it, flipping open little panels, poking at strange cords and wires, all to no avail. Then Jeremy came home from work and pointed out a tiny manhole cover near the edge of the lawn. The water meter.

To read the water meter, you first have to pry open the metal lid, which is surprisingly heavy and seems perfectly content to stay nestled into its little spot on the lawn. Once you get the lid off, you have to ease out a little plastic cover, which will reveal nothing but darkness, sadness, spiders, and a little, tiny meter about a foot below ground. Then you have to steel yourself, reach in, and flip open the meter cover.


Once you've recorded the number, flip the lid closed, replace the other lids, and spend the next hour feeling like you have spiders trying to tickle their way into all of your darkest crevices. If that's not bad enough, you are surely welcome to reflect in despair about how much your water costs, even though you have to read your own meter.

Seriously, there ought to be a discount. Especially when the meter is covered in a foot of snow. Look forward to that.

Best blog post of 2011

Clearly, there aren't really that many posts to choose from, but as I was scrolling through my list, this one caught my eye. It's the post about Clara and Jeremy's first days of school/work after our move to Missouri. There's really nothing special about that post, but it represents the promise of new beginnings and fresh opportunity--and that's a promise worth remembering.

Best movie that made me surprisingly misty of 2011

Okay--don't judge me.

I know you were expecting me to talk about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (since I have sworn a solemn vow to never speak of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Horrible movie. Horrible). But anyone can shed a tear when Harry is bravely walking into the Forbidden Forest alone to face certain death at the hands of the evil V-V-Voldemort. It takes a lot more nuance and irony to be able to cry at anything involving Jack Black.

I am both nuanced and ironic.

Best movie I didn't think I would like of 2011

Jeremy and I don't really see that many movies, in the theater or otherwise, so when he suggested I give up two hours of my life to watch Tron, of all things (Tron!), I scoffed.

Then, this summer, we were staying with my parents for several weeks, and lo, it arrived via Netflix.

That's a situation that's difficult to say no to. So I didn't.

Much to my surprise, I discovered something that many others had discovered before me: Tron is awesome.

I was totally seduced by the special effects, the graphics, Jeff Bridges looking young again, the music--the music!!--and Jeff Bridges looking young again. It's a great flick.

Best nonfiction of 2011

The best nonfiction book I read this year was Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I think it was published in 2010, but I didn't read it until this summer, thanks to my sister's recommendation (Holla, Megan!).

Immortal tells the story of a poor black woman in the 1950s who goes to the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins University Hospital for treatment of a particularly aggressive form of cervical cancer. She eventually dies, but cancer cells taken (without consent) from her cervix eventually become the first cells to be successfully grown in a laboratory setting. Hence, her cells are "immortal," and become--to quote Skloot's website--"one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance."

Doesn't that sound compelling? It is.

Skloot's research is absolutely exhaustive. She spent 10 years earning the trust of Lacks's surviving family members and writing the book, and her personal connection is evident throughout. Her subjectivity weaves itself into the narrative masterfully, without sacrificing Skloot's legitimacy as a journalist, and the book reads almost like a novel. The story is fascinating, strange, sad, and poignant--truly one of those hard-to-put-down, hard-to-forget stories.

Seriously, I highly recommend this book. I totally have a writer's crush on Skloot, too. Almost she persuadeth me to become a science writer.

Best fiction of 2011

I feel like I read a lot of books this year, and I really can't remember what most of them were. (That's what I get for not updating my GoodReads account--curses!)

But I guess if I can't even remember the books, they can't have been all that terrific, so the prize for Best Fiction 2011 goes to Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures.

I'm even farther behind with Remarkable Creatures than with The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks, since Creatures was first published in 2009. Nevertheless, I read it this year, and I enjoyed it very much indeed.

Remarkable Creatures tells the story of Mary Anning, a working class young woman in 19th Century England who has an uncanny gift for uncovering dinosaur fossils in the cliffs near her home. She is fascinated by fossils large and small, and sharing in her enthusiasm is the poor but genteel spinster Elizabeth Philpot. The novel pits the two women against the elements, the male-dominated world of geology and science, the prevailing wisdom about dinosaurs and the creation, and even--at times--against each other.

The novel evokes a time when science and religion were much more closely intertwined than they are today--often to the detriment of both. Yet in some ways I found myself reflecting on my own intermingling of science and religion, and how an understanding of both can lead to a strong, stable view of the natural world--and of God.

If you read Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring and weren't exactly in love with it (as I was not; I mean, I liked it all right, but it was not an overwhelmingly positive read for me), don't pre-judge Remarkable Creatures. It's really quite a good book, and I liked it even more when I learned (much to my surprise) that Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot were real women--women with a zeal for discovery and a passion for understanding the world around them.

Best kitchen appliance of 2011

Oh, how I wish I could be writing about this:


I mean, seriously--can you imagine making six waffles at once? Be still my heart. But since I don't have one, I can't legitimately tell you about the glories of the Cuisinart Six Slice Traditional Waffle Maker. Maybe next year.

I am happy, though, to be able to report on this little gem instead:


I think I mentioned this wonderful machine before, but in case you didn't believe me, let me say again how wonderful the Cuisinart Ice Cream, Yogurt, and Sorbet Maker is. It doesn't have a huge capacity, so if you're trying to feed an army you may have to look elsewhere. But for a small-to-medium family, it's just about perfect.

We have used this ice cream maker literally dozens of times since Jeremy got it for his birthday in July. It doesn't need salt or ice; you just put the little bowl insert into the freezer, then when you're ready to make ice cream just pour in the ingredients and turn it on!

When we first got it, we spent a lot of time following recipes. But it didn't take us long to realize a few things: 1)we just couldn't stomach eating very much "real" ice cream (even Jeremy agrees that ice cream made with just heavy cream is just too, well, heavy); 2)a lot of things taste good frozen; and 3)recipes are for suckers.

Okay, that's a little harsh. I actually love recipes and use them faithfully in many areas of my general cuisine. But let me tell you how liberating it was to discover that you can put nearly anything sweet and milky-creamy into that machine and it will turn it into a sweet, cold, bowl of pleasure. We even made a few batches using nonfat milk (not Jeremy's favorite, though he does like one percent). Nonfat milk produces more ice crystals than cream does (naturally), but again, if you're looking for something sweet and cold on a hot summer evening, it definitely fits the bill. We even whisked a bit of milk into whatever yogurt we had in the fridge, and voila--frozen yogurt.

Just wait until next year, when--fingers crossed!--I can report on ice cream-topped waffles--made six at a time.

Best new snack of 2011

I saw these Newtons Fruit Thins at the grocery store this summer and mentioned them to my mom. I was thinking they were a throwback to this kind of thin fruit-filled "cookie" my parents used to like to eat on road trips. We kids were not as keen on them. We all called them "sawdust cookies." I think anything with the texture (and taste) of sawdust is a liability on a road trip, but for some reason, my parents thought were fantastic.

Anyway, when my mom came up to help me after Cole was born, she bought me a box, and we soon discovered (to my elation and my mother's chagrin) that they in fact were NOT sawdust cookies. Instead, they are thin, crisp circles of deliciousness. We ended up eating a lot of boxes when my mom was in town.

I've tried all of the varieties other than the chocolate raspberry (only because I haven't seen it in my store, though I'll be on the lookout now), but my favorite is the citrus cranberry oat. Delectable. Think of how good it would taste as the accompaniment to some freshly made ice cream.

Also, I love that Nabisco's url is nabiscoworld.com. How heady is that?

Best move of 2011

Yes, that says best MOVE, not best movie (though I'll be getting to that, too).

With so many to choose from (ha!), it's hard to pin down the best move of 2011.

OK. It's not that hard.

We technically moved just twice in 2011. In early January, we moved from St. Paul to Syracuse. Then, in July, we moved from Syracuse to Missouri, via Utah (since it's totally on the way, right?).

We really enjoyed our time in Syracuse. We loved seeing so many dear friends from our first years living there, and we made several new, wonderful friends that I know we'll cherish forever. It was a good five months. But, at the same time, it was only five months. We knew we weren't moving there forever, which is why the best move of 2011 goes to...Missouri.

I was never one of those little girls who dreamed of growing up and moving to rural Missouri (strange, I know). But now that I'm hear I can truthfully say that it's not nearly as bad as I feared! (I know I have some 'local' readers on this blog, but surely you can sympathize with my apprehensions about moving here without ever having seen it!) There are so many things I like about our new home. It's a lovely part of the country. It's a cozy community. We feel truly at home in our new branch (congregation) at church. We love the stability of a paycheck that comes every month, all year long.

Most important, we love that we don't have to move in five months. We love that very much. In fact, we're almost to our five month mark, so in just a few weeks, we will have lived here for longer than we lived in our past two homes. That's a very pleasant feeling, indeed.