A Nephew, A Book Club, A Reunion, and a Picnic

Note: This post is weeks old but I had completed most of it so I want to finish it.

It was another one of those weekends that finally comes along where Matt and I “don’t do anything” which means we didn’t leave the state but still did tons. Matt’s parents were watching our nephew Ian for a week and Lisa asked if I would come down for a day and help out. I agreed to head down the day after we got back from the Dominican. Although, as near as I could tell when I got there they were doing just fine without me. Grandad has the best place for entertaining a four year old with an affinity for moving vehicles.  They have a cute little four wheeler for Ian and he was riding it when I pulled up. Pistol also came and greeted me after not seeing me for a week. He loves going to “the farm” though. I doubt he really even  noticed we were gone. 

We spent a lot of time in the pool. Ian is a good little swimmer.

I stayed the night and enjoyed the visit. I had to head out early in the morning to get back to work though. As much as we have been traveling you may not believe that I actually work but believe it or not, I do. It just takes a lot of strategizing.

I also was in charge of hosting book club this month. There was a book I had been wanting to read and the person who hosts gets to pick. So I picked “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard.

 I had watched several versions of her YouTube series and thought the book would be really interesting and it was already on my book shelf.  The book was indeed really interesting and reinforced much of what I already knew because ya know, I study this stuff.  But in picking this book I also learned a valuable lesson about book club.  I picked a book that I was especially interested in but it wasn't really a novel. I thought it was going to be more novel like telling tales of how she came about all of her knowledge of the process of “stuff” but it was more of a “Layman’s Terms for Understanding Production and Consumption”. That’s not necessarily interesting for everyone. It’s okay if you pick a book that turns out to be a dud but you should at least think the majority of people will think it’s interesting from the start. Furthermore, I picked a book that was largely based on my expertise (ish). It would probably make my friends feel uncomfortable criticizing a book that I could likely defend based on my own experience. Part of the purpose of book club is to discuss a book and even point out it’s weaknesses.  My  friends know how passionate I am on the topic so that doesn’t really leave the door open for a light hearted book club, even though I had my own criticisms of the book. All’s well that ends well, but I’ll keep these things in mind the next time I pick the book. I also really recommend the book—just don’t force it on people.

But to develop an eco-theme I did a few things.

I wanted to create a dish that celebrated the fact that most things are in season due to the summer(ish) weather, were bought as locally as possible, and even used some things from my own garden. And it was healthy. And it was delicious. So from scratch I made guacamole, salsa, and hummus.

And to make a point I wanted to use as little "stuff" as possible. So here are my recyclable items from my food making. 

Here are the compostable items which will eventually turn into nutrient rich soil for future gardening projects. 

 And this tiny little amount was the trash generated.

 Shanna for the eco win.

I also made a ton of the salsa and put it in jars that I had saved like old salsa jars or spaghetti jars or jams or whatever. Just glass jars with lids that I had thoroughly cleaned and taken the labels off of. I gave them to each of the attendees of the book club as an eco-party favor. No, book clubs do not traditionally have party favors, I just thought it was cute.


 10 Year Reunion

The time had come for my 10 Year Reunion. Notice I didn't say "The time had finally come for my 10 year reunion" because it is completely nuts to me that 10 years has already gone by.

We went to El Guapo's in Tulsa which is nice because I've always really liked that restaurant. It's also down town so there's plenty of places to stay and also go out. We had probably about 25% of the class show up which I think for reunion standards that's pretty good. This picture is actually really funny to me because it actually reminds me of the personalities of a lot of these people as I remember them.

And then there's me on the far left. One thing the sorority taught me was the ability to hold a smile endlessly while pictures were being taken for a long time by lots of cameras.

The only thing that didn't go so well was that we were ridiculously late. Which probably wasn't that shocking to the people I attended high school with. I was late there all the time too. It was entirely silly though. I totally thought it started at 7:00 and we got there at 6:45 and I told Matt that I was nervous because I didn't want to be the first ones there and have to stand all awkwardly greeting people that I haven't seen in a decade. I would much rather be fashionably late. That's a motto I tend to live by. Well we get there and go upstairs and there's everyone sitting down already with food in front of them. My first thought was, "My goodness these are some punctual people I grew up with. Look, they're already sitting down and this isn't supposed to start for fifteen minutes!" I kind of had a sensory overload when I saw all these faces I recognized but I was also looking for somewhere to sit, and say hello, and figure out what was going on because they were all so darn early. It wasn't until after Matt and I found a chair at the end and sat down and ten minutes later someone tells me this thing started at 6:00 p.m. Good grief Shanna. Can't even double check an invitation.

After dinner we migrated over to McNellie's across the street and had some drinks and caught up. Overall I thought it was a really good reunion and I had forgotten how good of a community I grew up in. I have always loved my tiny little town in Northeast Oklahoma but the reunion was a good reminder. The only downside was that there were several people that didn't make it that I would have really liked to have seen. Maybe at the 20 year?

Hillary and I at McNellies

The HOA Picnic

For the first time in my life I live in a neighborhood with an HOA (Home Owner's Association). I'm still not entirely sure what the HOA does and not to discredit the hard work of those who step up to leadership positions but my limited interaction with the organization is that we pay an annual fee (ick) and they make sure the common grounds are regularly tended to and land scaped and pay for the fountain to run and put up Christmas lights at our entrance. They also address when people are getting a little out of control with their lawn or have unsightly things in their yard.

So far the best things about the HOA was that we had a picnic this year and I thought that was adorable. We got to meet neighbors and have a sense of community. And then we went to elect new officers of the HOA. Some how Matt and I became the hospitality committee which is fine by me because I'm happy to throw together a batch of cookies and welcome someone to the neighborhood. This also comes with the assumption that someone is going to email me or something if someone moves into the neighborhood. I should look into that. Well, no one wanted to take over the president position. Matt feels pressure to do it but I however do not. I simply am not interested in the goings ons of other people especially if they do not volunteer that information to me. What people do at their own home is just not something I am interested in. I don't really care if someone is a week past being reasonable on mowing their lawn. I do not care if someone has their trash can in their driveway. It makes sense that there be someone to look out for these things for the greater good of the community, I just don't want to do it. Know what I want to do? Write my dissertation. And blog from time to time. And between those two activities and our overly scheduled lives I just do not have an opening for being a busy body. Which is how I will feel. I think the people who complain about all that stuff should stand up and take a leadership position but no one asks me what I think. Wouldn't the world be a better place if they did? I kid. I kid.

Anyway, it was a really  nice "calm" and "slow" weekend. Being home is great.

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Book/Movie Review: The Fault in our Stars

Matt and I have both had especially busy work weeks. I am teaching an online course for TTU for the first summer session (basically all of June) which means we take a whole semester of work and condense it down into one month. This also means that instead of about 2 weeks to grade assignments I have more like 2-3 days. I like to give students feedback so they can correct their mistakes for future submissions because I'm a not-yet-jaded professor for now. I will tell you that it really ticks me off when people put about 6 seconds worth of effort or plagiarize their submission and have the audacity to email me demanding to know why they got a bad grade. Comes with the territory I suppose.

Matt's schedule has been really crazy this week though. I feel bad or the guy. He has been leaving well before I even wake up and getting home after seven. Last night he had a minor catastrophe so he called and said he was going to be even later than he had intended. Since my dinner plans were out the window I decided I would go see The Fault in our Stars because I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be interested in it and I don't mind seeing movies by myself.

 We read the book for Book Club a couple months back. Its a quick and easy read. I just couldn't help but think it read like a 40 year old trying to narrate like a teenager. I did not cry during the book even though it was really sad. It just didn't really grab me like many other books do. It was also just such a sad topic (teenagers having a pretty strong grasp on mortality--and they have cancer). I wouldn't say it was a "bad" book--I just personally did not walk away saying "Wow, now I get why everyone in America is reading this book." Know what I mean?

I do get why teenagers would like this book. I don't really know how to expand on his more but my teenager idealistic self would have eaten this up. "I just put cigarettes in my mouth and don't light them... it's a metaphor." Good grief. My 27 year old says nope. "Okay." "Okay." Hand to forehead.
My 16 year old self... "Oh tell me more! You're so intuitive. Wordly. Someone I want to backpack Europe with. So dreamy." Cut to 10 year reunion: "So.... you sell vacuums, huh?"

 

But if you read the book you gotta go see the movie... right? 

The movie was...okay. Maybe even better than the book. They did a good job of leaving out the parts that I thought didn't really contribute much to the story in the book (like his former girlfriend). It seemed cast pretty well. Except Augustus. (And gah.. whats with the name? Augustus? Like Augustus Gloop?) I'm not crazy about that guy as an actor. Maybe I just couldn't get over them playing siblings in a movie I saw a month ago (Divergent). I thought she did a great job though. I also liked how they dressed her. Like... a normal person.
I didn't really cry in the movie though. I shed a tear. I didn't get super emotional though which movies often do to me. I think I was a little distracted by the lady like 15 rows up totally ugly crying though. I said a prayer for her during the movie because I can only imagine that she lost someone to cancer to have that powerful (and loud) of a reaction in a public theater.

I think I would have liked the movie more if I hadn't read the book. I think the parts that were emotionally gripping would have gripped me a little more if I didn't know what was coming. On that note--they did a pretty good job overall sticking to the book. I think movies are starting to get better about that as a whole.

I paid $7.50 to see the  movie (heck ya student ID!) and I felt at peace with my investment. That being said I think it's worth going to see. I just think you should see the movie first and then read the book because I think it will help maximize your entertainment overall.

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