Angie Windheim

Interested in a book that is odd, surprising, and somewhat like a captivating, extreme fairytale? Yes? Then you should read The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, by Tiffany Baker.  

The story is from the perspective our the heroine, Truly.  She’s a tortured soul in a small town plagued by being a Behemoth both in size and heart. She has all of the bad luck of a Cinderella, yet her happy ending is won with a slow and steady sense of purpose. Truly can’t just whip out her prettiest dress and some glass slippers. It’s a story of misfits (Truly’s not the only one) rising above intolerance and finding their way to love and peace.  It’s great.

An added bonus is the discovery of how to use herbs and plants for magic potions and healing creams. I felt a little inspired to start grinding up some peppermint and chamomile and  experiment with some natural remedies 🙂

I’ve be messing around with digital photo sharing and have decided to go with the Shutterfly photo website. Fun, fun, fun. Go give it a look! 

http://photomomentsbyangie.shutterfly.com/

I looked out my office window to the awesomeness of Spring. A very fat hummingbird was feasting on my flowering cherry tree. He actually sat down to rest a few times because he’s so full!  And, then a pair of finches decided to make out in the tree next to it 🙂  I was lucky enough to have some windows on the addition without screens and got a few pictures without disturbing the scene.

View Album at Shutterfly

We had lots to talk about last night at our third meeting of the Lit Ladies Book Club.  Our book to discuss was The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield.  This book was a serious mind bender and a very fun read for me.  I actually had to delay getting into my next book. I needed some time to digest and ponder all of my lingering questions after reading The Thirteenth Tale. 

The story finds a young, lonely biographer, Margaret Lea, receiving a most interesting letter. She has been invited to write the biography of the mysterious, and famous author, Vida Winter.  And, boy does Winter’s story turn out to be a doozy. So outrageous. Yet I was sucked right in and couldn’t wait to figure out the next puzzle.  Vida sets the stage early that this will be a bumpy ride with very few clues, “From tomorrow, I will tell you my story, beginning at the beginning, continuing with the middle, and with the end at the end. Everything in its proper place. No cheating. No looking ahead. No questions. No sneaky glances at the last page.”  Love it.  

A bonus to the novel is that both Margaret and Vida are avid readers, and I subsequently made a list of classics that I just have to read now after hearing them referenced so often. Everything from Jane Eyre to Sherlock Holmes.  

The Lit Ladies were a bit mixed on the book. A few felt it hard to get going (one only got to page 62!). A few felt it was too dark and twisted after just having finished the dark and twisted The Glass Castle.  So, majority ruled that the next book will be just for fun 🙂  Hence, The Scarlet Letter got dumped. We’re reading In Search of My Natural Hair Color, by Diane Beil.  So, I’ll be off reading other things this month since I’ve already read and reviewed that one.

Spending a day in downtown Portland with the boys is fun, and we definitely need to do it more regularly. On our Spring Break trip downtown, we started at the Portland Art Museum.  It’s free for kids 17 and under. Only $10 for adults. The museum is huge. You could get seriously lost with all of the floors and the underground tunnel that links the two buildings.  The boys lasted about an hour and a half.  Ben liked the contemporary art, the Native American collection is very cool, and the classical/impressionist collection is neat as well. Joe and Sam had the most fun circling and examining a very, to scale, naked male sculpture. Ben was so embarrassed! 

We got lunch at the new Portland expansion of the Deschutes Brewery.  The kids love that restaurant in Bend, so they were excited to try this one. Sam and Joe tried the bread pretzel. They didn’t go for it, but I’m telling you it was awesome! I took them home and shared with Brian. The garlic, mustard, cream cheese sauce it comes with is sooooo yummy.  Ben had the wings as usual. He actually shared them, and Joe discovered that he likes the hot wings.  He likes them a lot 🙂

Lunch was followed by an awe-inspiring trip to Powell’s City of Books. The store is amazing. We got the map and just stood there for a few minutes.  The kids filled a basket full of great books and started reading as soon as we got in the car.  And, they read all afternoon when we got home. I think we’ll start summer vacation that way as well. Very neat.  Oh, but don’t park in the Powell’s parking garage. That thing is sooo steep and so scary.  It’s probably what the boys will remember most about the trip!

Despite the endless rain and the cold chill this Spring Break, we still managed to have some fun playing tourists in Portland.  One day, the whole family, along with the McBride clan, headed to Oaks Park for the afternoon.  I hadn’t been there for probably 8 years. My expectations were low.  But with Safeway’s 2-for-1 discount we were only out $7 per person and the risk was minimal 🙂  

We had a great time. The place is kind of a dump, but there are a few really fun rides and the people watching was most excellent.  Ben loved the Screaming Eagle, Sam and I loved the Eruption (Brian got woozy on that one) and Joe loved the Disco ride.  The roller coasters are fun, but really hard on the body. Not a lot of padding and very jerky.

The best part of the adventure though was going out to dinner afterward. We decided to try Jimmy’s Smokehouse and Pizzaria at 7025 SW Macadam Ave.  It had rave reviews online and they were so right. We knew we’d done good as soon as we walked in and smelled the food.  We tried the Caesar salad, the riblets, the Macadam Avenue pizza, the pepperoni pizza for the kids,  and, my personal favorite, the End Cut pizza with thinly sliced Cascade Natural Prime Rib, carmelized sweet red onions, Gorgonzola cheese, Parmesan, Mozzarella and Provolone. Oooh yeah, baby. Add a good pitcher of beer and this place is a winner. We have just got to come up with a reason to get over there again 🙂