The Art of Fielding

My book club has done it once again! One of the members picked Chad Harbach's novel The Art of Fielding, which is a book that I would have normally walked right by without a second glance. College baseball set in the mid-west is not a plot that speaks to me yet I really loved this book. And in fact it might have been one of my most favorite book club discussion!

Goodreads says: At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

Henry’s fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry’s gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners’ team captain and Henry’ best friend, realizes he has guided Henry’s career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert’s daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life.

As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment—to oneself and to others.

No matter what your plans are for the weekend, I hope you all have a little bit of time to read and relax!

First Day Of School 2014

I not sure how we got here so fast but we did. Another summer in the books and a new school year has already started!

This is a year of many "first's". B starts her first year as a middle schooler. Personally I have never seen a child more excited to start middle school. All I can say is that I hope she is this happy for all three years. Our other "first" is that L is starting kindergarten this year! He is just over the moon that he will "finally" be in the same school as M.

May all of their days this year be filled with smiles!!!

Not The Way I Wanted To Say Goodbye To Summer

Ever since we got back from the Cape, I feel as though I have taking on a full time job. This "job" has been the task of making sure that our youngest child to start kindergarten and have us feel that he had a good allergy plan in place. (If you have been reading for awhile you know that he needs one!) Unfortunately, I am getting no where fast!! And I will do a post on all the details soon...promise!

So I am sure that I would hear me when I said that I needed more summer. More time to just hang out with my kiddos and feel like everything was ok because we were all together. I need more time in control. (Yes, I know I need to work on "letting go".)

All of that stress aside, I am happy to report that all we did this past weekend was be together with a nice date night too. I took this weekend as my chance to hold on to family as much as I could and I don't even care that mother nature wasn't going to work with me. I didn't let any thunder storm get in my way!!!