Time Out, Fish, and Tess

Time to play catch up. I can't believe I've gotten myself out of the blogging loop again. I really don't know what's wrong with me this winter... Anywho, I've had a pretty full last week and here's what I did (with pictures!!):

Time Out for Women:
This was a really fun event that I went to with Ashlee. The talks were all very inspiring and some of the music was great - to my surprise I really liked Michael Maclean. Not in a buy all his albums kind of way, but I thought he was quirky and actually a really funny guy. I did find out I'm not a huge Kenneth Cope fan, but that's okay, right? He's just a bit cheesy to me. The exception being "His Hands" which I think is an absolutely beautiful song. Some of the presenters were Mary Ellen Edmunds, Michael Wilcox (I've read one of his books - Fire in the Bones), and Deanne Flynn. These were my favorites anyway. I really got a lot out of Michael Wilcox's presentation about the personality of Christ. It was such a comforting and inspiring message about the love that the Savior has for each one of us. Deanne Flynn's presentation was just plain funny, she had us all laughing the whole way through. It was so neat to spend so much time listening to inspiring things and chatting with Ashlee. I definitely plan on going again next time its here in Colorado, so if you want to go too let's go together!


Aquarium:
Sophie and Ben had Monday off of school and preschool and instead of hanging around the house all day I decided to take the kids to the aquarium and it was so fun. The kids have been talking about it non-stop since and even Nina loves to mention sharks and fishies whenever she can. I loved the otters (they are so darn cute) and I think the kids all loved the shark tank. We went through really slowly and I let the kids turn around and go back to anything they wanted to see again (needed to get our money's worth right?!), so it was a nice leisurely day and I'm so glad I decided to try it. Next time maybe the childrens museum...


There were fish up above you in this area of the aquarium and I love this shot of Nina straining to see a shark go by.


Book Club:
I'm so happy to be a member of 2 book clubs! Yay! Right now they are my only extra-curricular activities (for lack of a better word) and it's great that we've been reading some challenging books that are great for discussion. On Wednesday we discussed Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Oh Thomas Hardy... I wish I could have met him because he must have been a very sad and twisted soul that needed some cheering up - maybe I would have made him some cookies or taken him a pass-along card or something. I'm not going to lie and say that I loved Tess. I can definitely appreciate the writing, but man it was painful - nothing is EVER happy, or if it is momentarily happy you know something horrible is right around the corner. I could not believe the whole Angel sleep walking scene... Okay its very symbolic and everything for him to say "dead, dead, dead" to Tess and then lie her in an open tomb, but honestly was that necessary?? Golly, that scene was morbid and horrible. I won't even mention the murder at the end or the laying herself up as a human sacrifice in the middle of Stonehenge... But then I guess I just did.:) Lots of misery and pain. Bleak stuff. But the book did point out some horrible social issues of the Victorian age and others that transcend time and place so all was not in vain. It's hard to think that there are places in the world right now were women are still treated like this. Also I appreciated the book because it is a really interesting study of someone who feels trapped by sin. It shows what someone does and thinks when they feel completely worthless and unworthy of love. Tess did not sin, she was sinned against, but she blamed herself right along with everyone else. THAT was hard to read. Oh, and I think Alec is one of the most deplorable characters I've ever read, Tess's mother and father are dangerous loonies, and Angel is a complete and total dork (even after he comes back, oh I'm not forgiving him at all and am glad he got sick in Brazil). But I digress.... Back to the book club. We had a great discussion about the book and other tangent topics as all book clubs should include. I love talking with these ladies and hearing their perceptions and perspectives. It was a good night.