Trees and Other Wonders

I have very good and exciting and big news, everyone! My husband, Stephen Case, has a book. A book of short stories, to be exact.

Here is what it looks like:

Whoa, right?

So this book is a book of short stories, like I said, almost all of which have been published previously. (Think magazines.) There are a couple of stories that are previously never published and are included as a sort of bonus. Whoo, bonus! I'd lump his stuff into the broad and ever-dynamic genre of Science Fiction/Fantasy, though I hesitate to say that because I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. (And if it's not your cup of tea, I'm really tempted to shout "YOU'RE WRONG," but that might be a tad judgmental.) Just know that his stuff is really great. It really is.

Sure, I'm his wife. I'm SUPPOSED to be his biggest cheerleader and fan. But I'll tell you a secret: It took me a long time to get through all his stories. I read sci-fi and fantasy with the best of them, almost to the exclusivity of all else, but there are so many variables within any genre, and Stephen's stuff isn't necessarily, right out of the gate, even MY cup of tea. Seriously. It's twisty and sometimes dark and often very enigmatic, and more than once I've finished a story and thought, Okay, what the hell just happened? And I get cranky if I have to think too hard. His writing challenges me, and it's heaped with beautiful imagery and wordplay and fantastical flights.

You should totally read it.

It's available on Amazon as a Kindle edition here. His author page is here. If you're interested in learning more about him and his research (yes, you are!), then here is his website.

(Note: We don't own Kindles, and so we had to figure out how to make reading a Kindle book possible on our own devices. Luckily, Amazon makes it easy to buy no matter what you have because--hey!--they want to sell you it, no matter what.)

Three cheers to The Professor for a job well done!

Mother's Day: They Are Beautiful Because They Can Kiss

Okay, obligatory Mother's Day post, I guess. But I have something I just can't pass up sharing.

Something besides this photo, I mean.

Ben Folds said it best: I am the luckiest.
Also, J is nefarious.

And also this one of My Sister the Goddess, our mom, and me.

Do you think any of us look alike?

You should know, if you don't already, that I am incredibly blessed to enjoy a happy, close, drama-free relationship with both my mom and my sister. We live close to one another, are intimately involved in each other's lives, work together to raise all six of the children, and only occasionally get bossy with each other. Okay, well, my mom and I are the World's Biggest Most Uptight Bosses and My Sister the Goddess is totally chill and patient and kind, so it's actually pretty funny that we all get along as well as we do. In a sitcom we'd be at each other's throats. Instead, we are happy.

No, what I was REALLY anxious to share with y'all was this strange, unexplained book that B, who is six, brought home from school on Friday. He wasn't able to explain much about it, being interested in decompressing with a big pile of Transformers after a long day at school. The "book" is comprised of several recycled coloring pages stapled together, and while his brother, J, had one, too, also on the subject of mothers, it wasn't nearly as wild as B's. I think they were told to use some cause and effect in their stories, but beyond that, I am left wondering at the specific prompt, beyond "mom."

(To preface: You should know that they boys only recently encountered the idea that "kissing is gross," and of course they picked it up from classmates. They've worked out a system by which kissing is okay. Kissing is okay at home, but at school they just don't do it and they play along with the "ewwww" of their friends' reactions. I don't think they have any concept of romantic kissing; just nice, familial kisses from their parents. At school, this is considered gross. But at home, they will gladly take part. Fair enough.)

I'll translate after each page, okay?

"Grandparents Mom is my BFF because they are beautiful."

"They are beautiful because they can kiss."

"They can kiss because I like it."

"I like it because I'm used to it." (It's like Stockholm Syndrome, this kissing business.)

"I get used to it because my mom is the best!"

It all follows, right??!!

I'll take whatever kisses I can get, because a little boy thinks that I am beautiful and the best. The end.

We Have Life

Well, I guess I let time slip away from me again. That's okay. We're busy. Who isn't, you know? Sure, the things we're busy with are just every-day, un-earth-shattering things, but such is the pattern and make-up of life. We have life. We have busyness.

We have digging and the poking of sticks.

We have art-making...

...and the beginnings of wall-filling in a previously neglected corner.

(After months of brainstorming methods of disguise, I just said "Hang it all" decided to embrace the thermostat and humidifer control by framing them. Will approves.)

We have the time-consuming task that is cheering on our little introvert in his first attempt at a team sport.

That is B, if you're curious.

And we have flowers.

Northern Magnolia (aka "Tulip Tree")
First seen here.

Oh, we have flowers.

Azaleas. Thank you, Mrs. Dorothy.

Because, of course, it's that time of year where we all feel crazy and itchy (in the best way possible), and I go outside and become like a landscaping rage monster of insanity. Today I'm ripping up half of my front lawn. This is the truth. I'll fill y'all in later, once the rage monster qualities have subsided.

I'll be quiet the rest of the week (I hope) because as far as weeks go, it's a doozy. It's our Holy Week (Orthodox Easter isn't always on the same schedule as Western Easter), which means lotsa, LOTSA services throughout the week, culminating in a late night Saturday Resurrection Service, which itself culminates in a 1 a.m. lamb dinner. I couldn't make this stuff up. I love being Orthodox. I'm so excited to eat meat. Lent is long, you guys.

Besides THAT awesomeness, it's also graduation weekend in these here parts. We're in the middle of the whole dog-and-pony show this year because my dad is graduating with his master's (WHOO. TO THE. HOO.) and we have lots of family and friends coming up/staying with us to celebrate. Lots of dinners, lots of togetherness, etc. All great.

Add to that: A Cinco de Mayo presentation that King Peter is taking part in. She's been singing in Spanish all week.

Add to that: Baby H gets tubes in his ears on Thursday.

I probably left a few things out. Suffice to say, it's insane. Good insane, and welcome and happy insane, but I'm sure we'll collapse sometime Sunday afternoon and never stir again.

And now I'm off to enjoy the 80+ degree day outside with my baby boy. Tell me your favorite perennial in the comments and I might just consider it for my front future garden.

Lemme Sum Up

Well hello, beautiful.



J at a swimming lesson

I'm back.

From left to right: Wolverine, Cap, and Batman,
as presented by Wolverine.

We here at Keeping Up with the Cases have taken a nice long leave of absence in order to get sick back-to-back-to-back (to back), cheer The Professor through his comprehensive exams (he passed 'em all!), and crawl our way through early spring.

It's been tiring. Worthwhile, but tiring.

H, tired Daddy, lizard boy

As you might be able to tell, I've also joined the 21st century and gotten on Instagram. You can find me under the handle casemama, if you so choose.

But once you see how steeped in nerdom I am, maybe you won't choose. That's your constitutional right, and I respect that.

My contribution to First Contact Day, because oh lordy.

 

We've sustained a few bumps and bruises along the way, and even a trip to the E.R. after tripping and gaining a "Harry Potter scar."

 

 



Besides taking part in freak, forehead-gouging falls, King Peter the Boy has also plastered my fridge with approximately 20 pictures a day. We're all actually quite impressed at her artistic skills. In comparison, her older brothers' drawings look like potato people.

This is a mama unicorn. Just let that sink in.

 

A lot of my time has been spent persuading my husband to undertake a kitchen remodel this summer, researching kitchens, discovering that we don't have enough money to do a good remodel this summer, falling into a tailspin of despair and anguish, being mean to my husband because he won't ever let me do anything, making it up to him because I am a child, coolly and calmly coming up with better kitchen designs and a game plan with my awesome, patient mother, resolving to in fact undertake a thorough and awesome remodel next year, and scoring a vintage gas stove on Craigslist for pennies because that's how I roll.

 

 



I swore out loud when I found it.
And made my husband pick it up directly
after his oral examination finished.

Don't worry, I'm still making plans for things The Professor can do this summer, since no summer of ours is complete without a huge honey-do list. Also don't worry, because the kitchen is a go for next year. We just don't want to have to cut corners, as would certainly be the case if we rushed into it now. Bonus: I have more time to plan and shop!

So that's our past month or so in a nutshell. Now, mid-April, we're delighting in unfurling flowers, the occasional sunshiney day that breaks up the monotony of (much-needed) rain, and the duck couple who have made our neighborhood their nesting home for the fifth year in a row. I mean, seriously. I get to walk outside in a free country in a wonderful neighborhood and visit with ducks. What more could I wish for?

I can only hope your spring is as awesome.

Vintage stoves for all!

ps: If you caught The Princess Bride reference, you get 50 points for Gryffindor.

Random Post in March

I don't have much time or energy to put together the semblance of a rational post. I'm sorry, but we're deep in the throes of Stomach Bug 2013. Or at least Stomach Bug Early Part of 2013, because let's not forget the depressing fact that there is more winter at the end of this year.

I'm sorry. I'm like this every March. March in northern Illinois is always hard, especially for light junkies like me. I am absolutely addicted to sunshine. (I hope you've read Sunshine by Robin McKinley, the best book my favorite author has ever written, and if you have you'll just nod your head solemnly when I state that my element is sunshine.) All my magic happens when I've been soaking in sunshine. I made myself buy a ludicrously huge and floppy sunhat last summer so I won't meet an untimately death via skin cancer at the age of 42. I think I have solar cells in my fingernails. I can feel myself soaking up the sun. Sunsunsunsunsun.

Okay, I'm done waxing eloquent about sunshine. Do you want to hear about puke? Of course you don't. Just know our lives have been full of it. It's just how things are, but knowing that doesn't make the last couple of weeks any easier.

Add to all of this the fact that The Professor is feverishly studying for his comprehensive exams. These are his field tests that, once completed and passed, give him the "all clear" to start working on his dissertation. These exams are the bridge between classes and dissertation, and they represent an insane amount of reading and studying. I never want to do anything like this in my life. I have no higher education ambitions, and I respect him hugely for doing this. In the middle of it all he caught the virus, too, so things are, understandably, a little insane and off-kilter around here.

All I want is an all-expenses-paid tropical vacation. Without kids. Is that so much to ask?

Just to keep things in perspective: We are, besides the bug, healthy. And happy. Our kids are smart and energetic and fun. We have a great home, heat, and plenty of food. I am sitting here, wrapped up in my Star Trek blanket and drinking coffee, while three of my children nap and none of them throw up. I have so many blessings.

Anyone else out there battling the bug? It's going around here. Just in time for spring break.

Anyone else out there just want sun?

Raisin Sings

I shared this on Facebook last week, but it deserves a wider audience. Behold! Raisin Baby (Raisin no more!) sings. Specifically, he sings like Ariel. And talks a little.

 

 

I plan on doing a post soon outlining all that this kid can do and say, but let me just say this: Holy cats, prepare to be amazed.

Living Room Redux

After we got our bedroom in order, I turned my attention to our living room. Last I showed you, I had gone against my husband's wishes and painted it white. It was pretty stark, so naturally it drove me crazy and I had to fill in the Great Blank. Problem is I had pretty much blown my budget with paint supplies, so I had to get creative, as I had recently done in our bedroom. Little by little the white got filled in, and I gave a sigh of relief and thanked Past Christine for having the foresight to embrace the neutrality of white.

Behold, the neutrality of white:

I, of course, didn't have the foresight to take a "before" picture (I just started moving furniture and splashing paint around, it was PRETTY INTENSE), but our previous paint color basically matched the furniture. And the wood flooring. Which meant everything was the same color, and it was making me a raving lunatic. White seemed like the neutral with the most longevity, and Pegasus (an Olympic paint--I used satin) is proving to be a paint kindred. It's clean and bright and on the cool side of things without being stark, and it makes our space feel HUGE. We used it in our upstairs bathroom last summer, and I'm still happy with it, even on this much wall space.

Here's a testament to the power of white paint: Before using it on the walls, I was starting to hate my beautiful, expensive, wonderfully-made couch, loveseat, and armchair simply because they were brown. I secretly wished for them to die in a fiery crash. (?? I don't know, I was irrational.) Who wishes such a fate on Bassett furniture? People surrounded by brown, that's whom. Then I painted the walls, and the brown furniture became beautiful and practical and timeless again. I once again thank Past Christine for her risky first-year-of-marriage purchase, because let's face it, Present Christine could never blow that much money on furniture. It's all due to the power of white paint, people.

As you might be able to see from the above picture, I like busyness. I like patterns (and lots of 'em!) all mixed together in what I hope are complementary ways. I got the biggest, baddest area rug I could find (this one from Rugs USA) in the boldest, most eyeball-watering pattern available. (Note: I don't have any other rugs on my wood floors, since we deal with allergies, but this is our only living space, so it needs a rug. This one is nearly 8' X 11' and it is PERFECT.) I decided to welcome every color but pink, although maybe pink will sneak in there without me noticing. I started throwing lots and lots of things on the walls, and my happy factor rose by about six thousand points, which is just shy of Total Bliss on the Happy Scale. Finally! My living room was eclectic, crazy, and print-happy, and I was truly enjoying it for the first time in years.

Now shut up, Christine. You talk too much.

 

 

Let's see. Nothing here was new (the frames are the always popular and versatile Ribba frames from Ikea, and the pillow is Jori's favorite, from Pier 1 a couple years ago) except I found that new lampshade from Target and the green candlestick was a clearance special from Hobby Lobby. The kids' pictures used to be lined up in a row above our couch (as seen here, in our baby announcement), but I much rather like this close grouping. Bonus: Rae took that picture of H.

 

In this corner I both maintained some established elements and changed some stuff up.

 

 



I spy three separate plants in this photo.
I have a lot of plants, y'all.

 

What we left the same was the grouping on the wall of the World's Fair poster and father-in-law-made shelving. (Those were the shelves borne of me handing him the Pottery Barn catalog, saying "I like these, please make them," and him performing miraculous miracles of carpentry.) It just worked for this space; the only change I made was to the stuff on the shelves.

 

The table is an old Hemnes from Ikea we've had for years. I can't even find this model online, so we officially have an Ikea antique. Fun fact: I really like it in the living room because it stands up to my kids and its doors hide useful things like coasters and babies who like to climb on its shelves. The glass antique lamp was a garage sale find from years ago. I did purchase the curtain (from World Market, here) and curtain rod (Hobby Lobby) specifically for this room, and I'm so happy I chose to go with a crazy mismatch of patterns. I left our star light (Ikea!) up after Christmas and made it permanent by containing its cord with a cable cover. It adds much whimsy. Whimsy pleases me.

 

Our one major change in this corner was shedding the Chair of Destiny. I still loved it, and always will, but it took up a ton of space in our narrow room and wasn't really serving us well. I passed it on to an appreciative and Chair of Destiny-loving friend and replaced it with this Klappsta from Ikea. I did NOT pay $150 for it--I paid $15 at a consignment store. It was in fabulous shape, aside from a few stains, and I went to work with both a bleach pen and some fabric at once. I managed to get out the arm stains, and the cushion is now happily ensconced in some fabric I found at--wait for it--Ikea a few years ago. I'd like to spray paint the legs some happy color, like red, once I figure out how to operate an allen wrench.

 

 



 

 

I should note that we tried a few different furniture configurations in this room, but ultimately landed right back where we started. We have a long, narrow living room that doesn't allow for much versatility or for a coffee table. The lack of a coffee table might be my one great regret.

 

I've had this end table in the next shot for a couple years now, originally bought from another local consignment store. I bought it painted dark brown, but the paint/sealant job wasn't well done and it started scuffing and peeling in no time. I looked around downstairs for some paint that was a) punchy and b) enough to cover a small table, so yellow it was. Sorry the lamp is so bright. I never claimed to be a photographer. Oh, and the owl canvas was a present from my parents. It's from Pier 1. OH YEAH, and the lamp is from a consignment store. I think it looks like an aquamarine brain.

 



 



 

 

My big project in this room was filling in the large amount of wall space over the couch. We had a lot of action and color going along the top of the wall (thanks again to my father-in-law for the amazing shelves!) and a lot going on with the chevron floor, but the big blank wall in between remained blank for some time due to its sheer level of daunt. Over time I gathered a whole bunch of possiblilities, mostly from my house or even my mom's house, and one night I finally said, "Husband, we have got to get hanging."

 

 





 

 

The only things I bought specifically for this wall were the little yellow chair (Hobby Lobby), the blue Martha Stewart chalk paint for inside the large frame (Michael's) and the Shirley Poppy print. (I love The Black Apple and have been yearning to buy something of hers for several years now. I finally had a good excuse!) The weird mirrored shelf thing, found at the same store as my now-yellow table, houses my ever-burgeoning collection of cow creamers and serves a second, deeply satisfying function of annoying the heck out of my husband. I think he's creeped by the cows. You can't see it in this picture, but the red frame hosts a porcelain unicorn of King Peter the Boy's. (Perhaps you can spot it in the photo of the brain lamp.) The green pillow is one I found at Pier 1 many moons ago; I made the blue one; the purple one is from the-store-that-shall-not-be-named; and the multi-colored chevron was hanging out at our local Marshall's.

 

Here's a closer look at one side of that wall:

 

 



 

So the blue chalkboard paint is right on the wall, framed by the old frame that used to house my high school senior photo. (I will never put that on the blog. Just FYI.) The cat/map canvas was made by my sister-in-law years ago; I think we actually stole it some time back. The black and white photograph is my husband's I had printed on canvas. The lamp was my last purchase for the room; it's also from Ikea, and I'm super duper happy with it. It's a seriously well-made lamp, and it comes in red, too!

I honestly didn't spend much money for this project. I used birthday and Christmas money, as well as money from a few things I sold, to fund anything I felt I needed to buy; the rest I either dug up out of my basement or dug up out of my mom's basement. Clearly whatever I couldn't find used I found at Ikea (honestly, I don't go there very often at all), and whatever I didn't like the color of I painted. These are my methods.

Thanks for putting up with my detailed blathering. I know it's not a major renovation, but I'm really happy with how this room is shaping up. I feel like finally my teenage self, who had purple walls and a crazy amount of wall hangings with no relation to one another, is justified in her eclectic tastes. It's like the 17-year-old me is now legitimate.

It feels awesome, you guys.


ps: Bonus points to my dad for changing out all of our old outlets, switches, and covers. He gets many virtual high fives, everyone.