My Privileges

My Privileges

A very interesting meme.

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child [kid’s work is original!]
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family


Puts things in perspective! I always considered my childhood fairly "average." Though I've always thought the world of my parents and what they did for my sister and I, I'm even more thankful now.

Writing Desk and a Reading Corner

2008 Youth Media Awards

On Monday morning at 7:45 AM, I watched the live webcast from ALA Midwinter to hear the announcements of this year's Association for Library Service to Children Media Awards. I took as many notes as I could as fast as possible. I missed a few authors/illustrators, but I managed to get every title!

My favorite part of January is hearing the which books have awarded the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, even though I'm no longer as "in the loop" with children's literature as I used to be. (For new readers, until my son was born I was a school librarian.)

I wanted to post this right after I watched the webcast, but I haven't had a chance until now. For those of you with young children or who just love children's and young adult literature, here are some of the highlights:

John Newbery Medal:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Newbery Honor Books:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Randolph Caldecott Medal:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Caldecott Honor Books:
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems

2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer
Walter Dean Myers

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
VIZ Media, publisher of Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith

Batchelder Honor Books
Milkweed Editions, publisher of The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, by Jutta Richter, illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky
Phaidon Press, publisher of Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell

Pura Belpré Author Award
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls

Belpré Author Honor Books
Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes

Belpré Illustrator Honor Books
My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez

Andrew Carnegie Medal
Kevin Lafferty, producer, John Davis, executive producer, and Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, co-producers, of Jump In: Freestyle Edition

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems

Geisel Honor Books
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne
Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Odyssey Award
Jazz, Live Oak Media

Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy, Listen & Live Audio
Dooby Dooby Moo, Weston Woods/Scholastic
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Listening Library
Skulduggery Pleasant, HarperCollins Audio
Treasure Island, Listening Library

Sibert Medal
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
Lightship by Brian Floca
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop

More information about the awards can be found here.

Mama Lena's Story

Lena came to the animal shelter in April 2007. She gave birth to a litter of kittens and nurses them until they were ready to be adopted. All her babies went to loving homes. After raising her own kittens, Lena then became foster mom nursing a little of kittens who did not have a mother of their own. They, too, were adopted.




A cat who's a lactivist! How could we leave her there, especially after 8 months? Lena is a very petite cat, even smaller than Zuzu (who only weighs 6 1/2 lbs.). She has an incredible amount of energy, which thrills Nunzio. He finally has a playmate who can keep up with him. (Zuzu is very low-key and ladylike-- at least when one's watching.)

The shelter warned that after being caged for so long, Lena could have a hard time adjusting to freedom. Well, they underestimated her. Right from the moment we arrived home, Lena has been all over the house, loving to cause as much of an uproar as she can! She and Nunzio are having a tussle right now! She's a tough little cookie and can stand up for herself against three bigger animals!




Welcome to the family, Lena!

Outnumbered

Zuzu (The Princess)

Nunzio (Everyone's Buddy)

Lena (Unholy Terror)

Woodstock (The Dog)

In case you were wondering...

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Go to Ultrasound technician schools

The Big Day

Things I've been doing the past few days to keep my mind of the New Hampshire Primary:

• Vacuuming up the remains of the Christmas tree
• Tons of laundry
• Going for walks (it's over 60 degrees! In January! In Northern New York!)
• Cleaning out the freezer
• Reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! over and over and over.
• Watching Jane Eyre
• Balancing the budget for my local MOMS Club (Have I ever mentioned I'm the chapter treasurer?)

Things I've been doing when I do think about the primary:

• Biting my nails down to the quick
• Reading Kat with a K (she lives in NH!)
• Eating lots of peanut butter

Menu Plan, January 7-13

Monday: Picnic dinner (veggie burgers or hamburgers with baked beans, potato chips, and fresh veggies)

Tuesday: Freezer soup (I'm trying to clean out the chest freezer) with fresh bread

Wednesday: Baked chicken with potatoes and steamed broccoli

Thursday: Chili with biscuits

Friday: Garlic and broccoli pizza

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Crockpot chicken enchiladas with TBD

Doesn't this sound like fun?

Taking two cats to the vet by yourself on a day when the thermometer is registering zero?

I don't think so either.

DH brought the carriers up from the basement for me this morning before work and Nunzio took one look and was outta there. He does not do well in the carrier or in the car. I have never heard such horrifying noises. Zuzu does pretty well, however, and they're both so friendly with the doctor. They won't eat his treats, though. I've never seen cats that refuse all nourishment but their specific bowl of food. It's bizarre. I’m used to gluttonous monsters.

Anyway, the only thing that may save this situation is that DS is going to stay home with Grandma. I took him and Zuzu to the vet over the summer, and there's no way I could manage two cats and one toddler! It's interesting to note that on that occasion the mercury was around 90 with 100% humidity. Today it's zero. I can't win.

Read Through the Bible and Catechism in a Year

Elena of Visits to Candyland and My Domestic Church has posted a link to a schedule for reading through the entire Bible and the Catechism in a year. Reading the entire Bible is again on my list for 2008, and adding the Catechism seems like a great idea too! It's nice to have the hard work of figuring out what to read when already done, so check this out!

Let me know if you're going to commit to either or both schedules, and we can encourage each other this year!

Key Lime Cupcakes

I made these on Sunday for our dinner guests, and they were a big hit. I used a slight variation of a recipe found in this book.

A little taste of summer in the midst of a snowy winter!