the book thief by markus zusak

I stayed up way too late last night to finish this amazing book! If you love reading (as I do), have ever been intrigued by the power of words (for good, for evil, to change the direction of your personal history or the course of the world)...you will LOVE this book. Every character fascinated me.

The story is told from a very intersting POV...one which I won't spoil for you here. I think it's good to be reminded of periods of time in our world's history that have brought about immense suffering. It should remind us that we - as humans - are capable of inflicting this type of suffering on one another. That we must constantly look at ourselves, our country, other nations...to ensure that this type of suffering doesn't continue to repeat itself. That when we see it occur we must do all that we can to stop it. Even when it costs us something. Perhaps when it costs us everything.

Author's description of the book:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

new york, new york - day three

tuesday morning brian & i took advantage of our last day away from home by...sleeping in, again. at this point, i had a terrible cold going full throttle in my head (ugh!). so we spent the morning relaxing & then headed out to coney island in the afternoon.

wow...so if you don't believe rednecks live in the north, go to coney island! while we're happy to have seen & experienced this iconic american locale, it was definitely not as *nice* as you might think - clearly it's a place well past it's prime. we did hit the wonder wheel (a 150-feet tall ferris wheel that's been in place since 1920), as well as the cyclone (a wooden coaster that's nearly as old). plus, we had to down a corn dog @ the original nathan's (there since 1916) & home to the annual international hot dog eating contest.

the most bizarre part of coney island? an attraction called 'shoot the freak' - check it out for yourself below. what?

tuesday night we headed to our second baseball game...this one @ shea stadium to see the braves play the mets. while the braves did not prevail, it was very fun to see the mets' fans responses to the braves, specifically chipper jones. when chipper is up to bat, every mets fan starts yelling 'larry' (his actual name). the place would go nuts every time he came up to bat. bizarre.

we're already considering next year's baseball trip...& are pretty sure that trip will include our little guy! we had a great time in NYC & are grateful for opportunities like this to reconnect & just have fun sans our precious garrett (no thinking about naps, bottles, feedings, etc!). we were happy to get back home & relieve brian's parents, though - i'm sure they were in need of a big nap by the time they made it back to TN!

coney island boardwalk

the wonder wheel

inside the wonder wheel

a view of the beach from the wonder wheel.

a very, very old wooden roller coaster, the cyclone...you could use a chiropractor after this thing!

so bizarre...you're shooting a real man down there! what the heck?

from the vantage point of our seats.

new york, new york - day two

something you should know about nearly every museum, broadway show, tourist attraction, etc in NYC - it's closed on monday! but since our main *entertainment* while we were in town was going to be baseball, it didn't seem to matter too much to us...

monday morning we slept in & had brunch @ sarabeth's. apparently *the* place to brunch on the upper east side (which is where we were staying). but i have a theory about the food in NYC - or the perception of the food in NYC...& some of you are going to disagree with me...but it's for the most part no better than the food i've experienced in chicago, atlanta, maui, charlotte, phoenix, nashville, miami, etc, etc, etc. it's still brunch. come on, people. i mean, hello! you can only do eggs & bacon so many ways! & this applies to breakfast, lunch & dinner - across the board.

anyway...after our massive brunch'ing, we decided to walk (& then people watch) through central park. i find central park to be one of the most beautiful places to visit. i've been there @ different times of the year & find it equally beautiful in each instance (particularly the fall!). after central park we seemed to keep on walking (i love the "faux" exercise i got out of this too!) & ended up in times square. i'm amazed - every time i'm in times square - at the bustle. at the lights ("the smoke, and the lights" - 10 points if you can name that movie!). there's so much going on there! it also ended up being an ice cream pit stop...if you know my husband, this is no surprise (it also won't surprise you that we also had a gelati later that night in little italy!).

by late afternoon, we were tired...& if you know us, you know we love our naps...so we headed back to the hotel for a snooze & then a late dinner at benito's II (thanks for the rec, keith!) in little italy. we also hit ferrara's (a very old bakery/sweet shop + yummy gelati!) that we'd been to before with friends. *supposedly* (or supposably!) a mobster was killed out front of ferrara's back in the day!

so, while day 2 seemed like we didn't really *do* anything, i think that was kind of the point. we loved the walking...seeing new parts of the city...buying from street vendors...checking out little shops...eating...napping...eating some more & just hanging out!

ok...day 3 tomorrow!

on the east side of the park, looking across the reservoir towards the upper west side.

the hustle & bustle that is times square.

brian & beth, times square.

little italy @ night.

new york, new york - day one

last summer, brian & i were in chicago to see the braves play the cubs...we decided we'd start a new family tradition - something we both love (the Braves & baseball!) & could enjoy (eventually) with our kids - traveling to see our hometown team in a park we've never visited.

this summer it was only fitting that we head to NYC to see the yankees (take on kansas city) & the mets (against our bravos!)...watching each team play a game in their legendary ballparks in their final seasons. both teams will have new homes next year.

we left atlanta early sunday morning & saw an absolute slug-fest sunday afternoon in yankee stadium. the yanks beat the royals 15-6! despite the fact that i actually did doze off during the game (what? we got up *really* early sunday morning to fly out!) our seats were great & the weather was perfect. it felt strange actually *cheering* for the yankees, but...

thanks to brian's parents for coming to stay with garrett. now that he's crawling all over the place, we know it made their time here a bit more tiring than when he was a stationary little guy! i know brian & i will spend the next week undoing all the "love" (aka, spoiling!) garrett received while we were away! fortunately...we wouldn't have it any other way! thanks, mom & dad!

brian & beth, after the game.

cross streets of yankee stadium.

from the vantage point of our seats!

outside the new yankee stadium...just across the street from the old one.

bandana boy

 

no idea where this bandana originally came from, but we found it the other day & brian put it on garrett. hahahahahaha...he thought it was so funny!

On 8.8.08 Garrett is 8 months old!

funny coincidence that on 8.8.08 baby G is 8 months old! so much has happened in the last month!

garrett's crawling! 2 weeks ago, he went 5 *crawls* looked at me & smiled. after that, the boy took off! don't know what he waiting on, but he's now into everything. (as you'll see in my trying to take his birthday photo today...he wanted to geronimo off of the side of the bed!) at the gym, he's apparently no longer happy in the infant room & i come back from my workouts to find him out with the toddlers, crawling around, taking away their toys, smacking little girls in the face, sitting in the midst of 4 little girls one day! hahahaha...i know he doesn't know what he's doing, but it's pretty freakin' funny. his crawling has also presented brian & i with the challenges of baby-proofing the house - a job we hope to accomplish tomorrow.

our little guy has also discovered *swimming* - basically he loves to splash & will put his face right down in the water if we'd let him. this means he's also grown to love his bath time - big splashes everywhere & now that he can crawl he crawls around our bathtub chasing the little toys.

we don't know what's happened this past month...perhaps just more of garrett's personality is coming out...but brian & i are continually amazed @ how our love for him grows. you think *this* is the best, but every day is better & better. we are truly blessed with such a happy little man! he is very *busy* & into everything...his disposition is amazingly sunny (a mother never tires of her child's caregivers commenting on *that* let me tell you!). garrett wakes up happy - in fact today i went in to get him & he was startled by me walking in the room but then burst into the most incredible smile! garrett & his mother have also joined a pl..a play...playgr...a playgroup... boy, i could hardly spit that out. don't ever say never...b/c i said "ugh, i'd never join a playgroup!" it's fun, though - it ended up being all boys in the group & they're all within days/1 month of garrett's age & we meet once a week to let our boys *play*. this is where i first observed garrett *taking* toys from other children & smacking them in the face! ha!

so happy crazy 8-month old birthday today, baby garrett!

earlier this week, he kept taking a bite of food & then rubbing his face!

when he was trying to nosedive off of the bed while i took his picture!

it was almost as if this is the first month that he's *seen* the monkey - he was talking very loudly to it (imagine, mine & brian's child talking, & loudly!).

we were changing garrett poolside today & brian had him really laughing as you see in this & the next photo.



after his bath tonight...he was DONE with me taking his picture!

ruby, ruby, ruby, ruby

 

ok...so there are no pictures of a ruby here, but we'll get to that story in a minute!

we were in TN this past weekend...felt like the fastest trip of our lives! it was consumed with time with brian's extended family & those who live in the area, as well. the snodgrass (that's right, snodgrass!) family reunion was on saturday night, the main event! it's always great to see many of the family we don't see throughout the year & to listen to stories about those who have passed on, as well as have the opportunity to make memories with the newest & oldest members of the clan.

the above collage highlights some of our time there this weekend. you'll also notice brian panning a bucket of gems at gold city (in nc). we pass this place every trip back to TN. it's somewhere west of asheville. brian's been consumed lately with panning for gold (seriously) & we needed to feed garrett, so this seemed like the perfect place to stop for a bit. we bought a bucket of dirt & started looking @ the rocks. (decided not to the do the gold as it takes a while to pan the entire bucket.) to my astonishment (& i think brian's as well!)...

we came out with several cuttable stones (rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethyst, topaz, etc.). i have to say, it really was fun to play in the dirt & the water & see the amazing colors that came alive as that red clay washed away. made me wish i had been a bit more attentive in my earth science & geology classes in college. as corny as i thought this little adventure might be, i'm really happy we did it. brian & i both learned some interesting facts about the local area, as well as the geological factors that contribute to the formation of gold & gems. i think gold city might well become a tradition on the white family trips to/from TN! we're having a 4 ct. ruby cut now...can't wait to see how our little find turns out!