A Good Year

Well, today is the last day of September. Tomorrow is October 1st, 2011.

What happened on October 1st, 2010? Well, the initial post of Meri-Goes-Round, that’s what!

Yes, I’m 1 years old!

I’ll probably stick my hands and face in a cake or cupcake of some sort, but that’s not the only surprise I have in store here. It’s been an absolutely awesome  year of blogging, and I have gotten so much out of it- and now I want to celebrate!

Thus, there will be some changes on Meri-Goes-Round.

And an upcoming giveaway.

what does this craft crap have to do with anything? we shall see...

Now who wants to help me celebrate? What’s your favorite way to celebrate a milestone or important date?

-Meri, happy to no longer be a blogging infant, but practically a blogging toddler… (and if I could teach myself some computer basics, I might even become a blogging preschooler one day…)

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Now I know my ABCs…

…next time won’t you read with me?

First we learn our ABCs, then we learn to read. When we are little, we read books like Dr. Seuss and See Spot Run, and when we are older we move onto all of the other fiction and non-fiction on our planet.

So why not put the two together?

student.boyertownasd.org

Meri’s ABCs for Grown-up Readers

  • A is for Anais Nin, who did whatever she pleased and then documented it.
  • B is for Bridget Jones, one of my favorite fictional heroines
  • C is for coffee, which goes wonderfully with a book!
  • D is for the Da Vinci Code, the ultimate airplane read.
  • E is for Edgar Allen Poe
  • F is for Federico Garcia Lorca. I’m sorry I read your classic play, Bodas de Sangre, in English when I couldn’t get through the Spanish. Meri Fail.
  • G is for Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin. I love this book.
  • H is for Hemingway, who I love despite feeling like I’m not supposed to.
  • I is for “Into the Wild,” which has some of the best descriptions of nature, as haunting as the novel is.
  • J is for Jack Kerouac. Because didn’t we all have a beat phase?
  • K is for Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most creative but readable authors there is. Start with “Galapagos” and tell me you don’t love it.
  • L is for Les Mis,  I’ve seen the play but never read the book. I should. One day, I will.
  • M is for Mooncake, my favorite children’s book
  • N is for (Pablo) Neruda, and his beautiful Spanish poetry
  • O is for  (George) Orwell, for giving us “Animal Farm” and “1984”
  • P is for the Produce Bible, the best “cookbook” I’ve found yet.
  • Q is for Queeny Peavy, this weird book my sister used to have that she or I never read but made fun of for years. The girl on the cover was pretty pathetic looking.
  • R is for JK Rowling, for giving us Harry Potter, the greatest gift an author could give…
  • S is for Shakespeare, whom admittedly I really enjoyed reading for school.
  • T is for Twain, one of the best satiricists I’ve read yet
  • U is for Ursula Leguin, who wrote the story about “Omelas” that used to haunt me in college.
  • V is for the Velveteen Rabbit, which I loved when I was little
  • W is for Water for Elephants, the last good book I read
  • X is for “I am Madame X,” a book I read entirely in Barnes and Noble back in high school, latte clutched in hand.
  • Y is for Yummy Yucky, wise beyond its’ years. It’s never too early to teach kids to be picky.
  • Z is for Franny and Zooey. I had a distinct JD Salinger phase.
Go on- pick a letter, and tell me who you would put in there!
Who taught you the ABCs?
Meri
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Unbe-leaf-able!

“Autumn is a second spring when every flower is a leaf.”

-Albert Camus

 Autumn:

changing colored leaves, pumpkin patches, sweaters and scarves, apples and apple cider, pumpkin spice tea, spaghetti squash, Oktoberfest, football games, Halloween, boots and tights, pumpkin ale, soups, Thanksgiving,  acorns, jumping in leaf piles…

 What’s your favorite part about the fall?

Meri

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The Spice of Life

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.

-Alice May Brock

Flavaaaaa!

I’ve been thinking a lot flavors lately. Not being able to eat for three days will really get you HUNGRY when you can eat again, and being more intentional about my meals while I heal has made me make more of an effort with the flavor combinations in my meals.

Here are some of my favorites!

  • Sweet potatoes + blue cheese
  • Spaghetti Squash +nutmeg + parmesan
  • Cauliflower +curry powder + cream cheese
  • Carrots and mustard
  • Rice +lemon +cilantro
  • Spinach + soy sauce
  • Ginger + Peanut butter +Chili powder
  • Strawberries + Mint
  • Greek yogurt + oatmeal + cinnamon
  • Orange + Almond extract + cake/ cookies/ pancakes
  • Chocolate + Peanut butter
  • Garlic + everything
Yes, I’m a garlic fiend. It’s good to have family and a significant other who also adore garlic, as I have never felt self-conscious about my garlic breath in my life.
What are your favorite spices or flavor/food combos?
Meri

 

 

 

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Jonesin’

No, I’m not having narcotic withdrawals from Percocet or anything over here- I’m referring, instead, to Bridget Jones’ Diary, one of my favorite novels of all time (and its sequel, Bridget Jones, the Edge of Reason).

is this the edge of reason? or just close to it?

I like this book because it has endearing, smart characters, because it is downright hilarious, and also because of all of the British slang I picked up in my many reads through the two books.

What are some of my favorites? Here we go:

  • tart (promiscuous woman)
  • f$%(-wittage (self-explanatory)
  • singleton (single person)
  • smug-married (self-explanatory)
  • fags (cigarettes)
  • pissed (drunk)
  • flat (apartment)
  • bollocks (S&%$)
  • wanker (not a nice name to call someone)
  • gherkin (appetizer)
  • paddling pool (kiddie pool/ wading pool)
  • sod off (eff off)
  • bugger off (again, eff off)
  • bottom (bottom, but they use it more than us)
  • takeaway (take out)
  • lorry (truck)
  • flash (fancy)

sooooo… did I miss anything? Do you ever use any of these words? What slang words are you using these days? (I feel cut off from the real world, after all- keep me hip!)

Meri

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Mer-Plane

Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

– Miriam Beard

I’ve been thinking a lot today- discussing my upcoming trip to Chicago, watching Pan-Am (just finishing up now), and thinking about how many things have changed in my every day life since the surgery.

I love to travel- every time I go somewhere it lights a spark inside of me, shakes up the routines I’ve gotten stuck in, and recharges me to start a new adventure or two in my every day life. It’s so easy to get stuck in the same old thing, day after day.

So, now I stand here. Okay, sit here, and proclaim that it won’t take another trip, or another emergency surgery, to make me go after what I want in life. No more boring old ruts. We’re talking eyes wide open in the face of life.

Who’s with me?

Does it take an “eye opening experience” such as travel or a life- changing event to snap you out of a rut? What do you do to keep things interesting?

Meri

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Series Regular

Good Evening, Happy Friday, and Happy Weekend!

I got my tush outside today for the first time in days. It felt awesome, even though I got tired and nauseous about a block from home and turned back around. I managed to snap a few photos first though:

Berries and flowers and twigs, oh my!

But on to tonight’s real theme. Childhood/Elementary book series that I used to love (and probably still would if I gave them another chance:

1. The Babysitters’ Club: Come on, who didn’t love these books? Between my sisters and I we must have owned the majority of the series, including the coveted “super special” editions where they went on vacations. My favorite characters were Stacy, Claudia, and Jessie. I couldn’t stand Dawn, Mallory, or Kristy. Maryann was meh. Oh, and raise your hand if you started a copycat “BSC” of your own. (raises hand proudly).

2. The Boxcar Children: These were kid gold. They didn’t have parents, they solved mysteries, and they all knew their role in the world the family. They were all freakishly smart and well adjusted, too, for being orphans.

3. Encyclopedia Brown: I didn’t have as many of these mystery series, but I sure did like trying to solve the mystery before Enclyclopedia did. I think I figured it out once, and it was hella cheesy.

4. Sweet Valley High/ Nancy Drew: I didn’t read a ton of either of these series (although I loved SVH on TV) but I did get a good bunch of them from the school library. I idolized Nancy Drew for a very short period of time. and I think we all want to be the sweet valley twins.

5. Judy Blume’s Empire: Okay, not a series, per se, but she was BIG back in my kid-hood. “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself,” “Just as long as we’re together,” and “Here’s to you, Rachel Robinson,” “It’s not the end of the world,” and “Otherwise known as Sheila the Great” were some of my favorites.

Honorable Mentions: Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby), Goosebumps, Roald Dahl

What were your favorite book series to read when you first started reading “chapter books” like these? Did you like any of these series? Do you have huge collections of any books like this back at your parents house like we do?

Meri

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I’m bringin’ spunky back…

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.”

-Miss Piggy

hehehehe. I love this quote. I chose it tonight because I’m feeling a bit more of my old spunk today. The surgery/hospital/staying at home thing had been dragging me down a bit, and I still don’t quite feel myself. So here’s a little photo montage of things I like, in hopes of bringin’ the real slim shady Meri back.

One last thing: I’ve been watching some TV premieres this week while I craft and nap. Here’s what I’ve seen so far and what I think:

Two Broke Girls: Love the main characters. Thought it was funny. I’ll watch again!

Charlie’s Angels: Just as atrociously bad as I thought it would be. I did laugh out loud 3-4 times though, and not at jokes they were telling… probably will never watch again

Whitney: Liked it. Felt a little like me though, which I think is what they are going for… but still kind of creepy.

I missed the Glee premiere because I’m way behind anyway, and am looking forward to Pan Am this Sunday!

What are you all watching this week? What do you do when you lose your spunk (or mojo, etc)?

Meri

Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments

Shelf life

Hey y’all. It’s been another day full of moaning, groaning, eating, and reading. And a few crafts thrown in there:

photos, magazine clippings, contact paper...bookmarks!

One of my sisters stopped by today to drop off a tray for crafting and to visit awhile. While I was in the hospital, she brought me her copy of Water for Elephants, which I’ve been “meaning to read forever” but given my tendency to do everything else before reading, I had not gotten around to.

Well, this bout of cabin fever is likely to get me reading sooner than later. I’m just mere pages from the end of my latest library book, and ready to tackle Water for Elephants.

But what else has been on my list for ages and ages and ages?

Books I keep claiming I’m about to read but haven’t yet:

  1. Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
  2. The Help- Kathryn Stockett
  3. The Paris Wife- Paula McLain (1/3 of the way into this one)
  4. The Innocents Abroad- Mark Twain (I’ve only read snippets)
  5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson
  6. Room-Emma Donague (has me totally intrigued)
  7. Cleopatra: A Life- Stacy Schiff
  8. The Beautiful and Damned- Fitzgerald (5 pages in, 5 years ago)
  9. The American Heiress- Daisy Goodwin
  10. What Alice Forgot- Liane Moriarty
What about you guys? Are there book-clubbish type reads like these that you always “mean” to read but never seem to get around to? Anything I should add to my list while I sit on my aching laurels healing the scarbelly?
Meri
p.s. I am not feeling even nearly as sorry for myself as I’m pretending in this blog 🙂 things are going to be just fine!
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Make my Grocery list Monday

Hey dudes.

Sorry about the melodrama yesterday. I’m hoping my huge slash across my belly will heal soon (I’ve told friends and family that I am henceforth to be referred to as “scarbelly”) and that I won’t fall asleep after walking down the stairs soon.

In the mean time, I’ve had the need for lots and lots of really easy, quick to make, and very small (as my poor intestines heal) meals. My mom and man-go-round hit the co-op yesterday for some goods to help me out. So I have a different kind of list this week!

Surgery Recovery (or Lazy Gal’s) Mini-Meal Ideas List 

  • Sweet potatoes (or regular)- I tend to nuke mine and cover them in greek yogurt and salsa. Post surgery, I’m trading the salsa for ketchup for my guts’ sake.
  • Oatmeal– Just blander, and in smaller doses. The first solid food they gave me at l’hopital!
  • Tupperwares of big batches of soup– heat it up one at a time.
  • Yogurt
  • A good energy bar ( Luna, Clif, Kashi, etc.)
  • Frozen dinners like Amy’s Tofu Scramble (they also bought a veggie pot pie that looked quite good but I haven’t tried yet)
  • Almond Butter Bagel (Especially if your momma buys you Rudy’s Cinnamon Raisin! Livin’ large!)
  • Veggie Burger- Just nuke it.
  • …aaaaaand of COURSE my old stand-by, the microwave pancake!

What do you all eat when you need a quick meal in a hurry? Any small sized frozen meals to recommend to a vegetarian who should steer clear of spicy things or too much fiber for now but is DESPERATELY SEEKING EXTRA PROTEIN?
Hope you’re having a great start to the week!
Meri
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