Book: I Am Malala

I Am Malala

by Malala Yousafzai

Length: 321 pages

Format: paperback
Price: $8.99 on Amazon (I actually shelled out the money for this because it's NEVER available at the library)

How I heard about it: the language arts teacher on our team applied for a grant which would pay for our entire team to take a field trip to view the documentary that was released a few weeks ago. It's also on my list.

Basic Premise: Born and raised in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai became an advocate for education almost from the moment she could talk. The daughter of an education activist in a country where educating females is not a priority, she and her family quickly became targets of one of the largest and most dangerous terrorist groups in the world - the Taliban.

My Take: 9 out of 10 (scale here)
In the middle of reading this book, our principal took our team of teachers and significant others to see the documentary. As you might imagine, it was poignant and heartfelt and moving. I was in tears many times and Husband even wiped his eyes once or twice. The book is even more so, detailing the events of her childhood, what it was like to experience 9/11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden from a Pakistani perspective, and what it was like to have to worry about suicide bombers and masked gunman while going to school. It was such an eye-opening read, and reading it so soon after I finished The Kite Runner was helpful because, though the books took place about 40 years apart from each other and in neighboring countries, there were many similarities and common locations.

I taught on theme this week, and one of the criteria of a theme present in a book is that it must be applicable to humankind as a whole, regardless of race, religion, homeland, etc. I shared with the students that I was reading this book, and that nothing about my upbringing was like hers. She often didn't have electricity; I only didn't have it if the power went out. She had to fight hard for her education; I often complained about being forced into mine. But constantly, I found myself identifying with her thoughts, her feelings, her actions, her words. Although she possesses far more courage than I.

Incidentally, we received the grant and will be taking our students to view this documentary next month. I am so much more than excited!

List Progress:

1. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
8.  Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeby Mark Haddon
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (read before I started blogging)
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (read before I started blogging)
14. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read before I started blogging)
19. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read before I started blogging)
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen *abandoned*
21. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell review here
22. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
23. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - can we have a moment for whoever created this list? "Harry Potter" is not a book. It's a series of books. Sheesh.
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green review here
25. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak review here
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini review here

Financial Update

2015 has been a year of financial wins so far. In February, we paid off Husband's car. Last month, we paid off our renovation. It was totally exciting, because it meant we only have

one

loan

left.

That's right. Well...it's right if you don't include mortgage, which Dave Ramsey doesn't because that's step 4 or 5. And since Dave doesn't, we don't.

At various times over the last 8 years, we have had anywhere from two to five loans, with a grand total of six. And now? We only have

one

loan

left.

Our original goal was to have this paid off by the end of the coming summer. HOWEVER! We have been able to put so much down this month that we have bumped our date up to the end of the school year! This means that in seven months' time, we should be DONE with this list!

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016

Now, we have started to look at Step 3 (Step 1: $1K in the bank, Step 2: pay off non-mortgage debt). Step 3 is establishing an emergency fund that covers 3-6 months worth of EXPENSES. So if it cost $2K/mo to live (HA!), you are looking at $6-12K in the bank. I think this is also where sinking funds come in (which is good because I'm pretty sure that one or both of our cars will be giving out right around this point…). Anyway, it's exciting to see progress!

Spectacle

This summer, I went to the hospital to see Lindsey and her new baby. On my way out, my feet kind of steered themselves off the elevator and on to the second floor, down the narrow, windowed hall, past the stairway to the long hall that lead to the NICU. I sat down on one of the benches and stared through the glass doors and into the ward. I smelled the familiar smells. I watched the familiar sight of parents walking by and going through the drill. Sign in. Stick the thermometer under your tongue. Record the reading. Hand-sanitize. Get your key and go see your baby, hoping and praying with every step that she is well. I wondered how early their baby was.

And despite my best efforts to keep myself together, I sat on the bench and cried. I cried for my Lucy. I cried for the woman I was and the man my husband was then. I cried for the parents who were in the throes of this struggle. And I cried for their babies. And in any other setting, I might have made a spectacle of myself, but here, seeing someone you don't know in tears is just part of NICU culture. Because when your newborn looks like this, it's hard to hear even the doctors and nurses over all your worry. You can't see it in the picture, but Lucy has an IV in her head. (There's a hole in the hat, which I kept.) That thing on her face is called a bubble C-pap. There is also a feeding tube running up her nose. The sensor things taped to her torso are measuring breathing or blood flow or something. There is a blood pressure cuff on her foot and I can't remember what that thick tube in the back is for.

Last week, as a part of our connect group story, I read John 9:1-3:

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. "Rabbi," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins?" "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

 So the power of God could be seen in her.

October 22, 2012, after a 19-day stay in the NICU, we took Lucy home. Within a year, she was caught up with her peers in size, and within two years, she was caught up with them entirely. And from the very moment of her birth, she has been a testament to the power of God.

Keep that up, Lucy Jean.

Superhero Birthday

I am not a big party-thrower. Traditionally, I let the kid pick a theme and we do a cake, some snacks, and some decorations and that's pretty much it. We have done Thomas, baseball, legos, sunshine, and ladybugs (and apparently I haven't done blog posts on all of these). This year Sister asked for superheroes.

She is so cool.

And we upped the ante this year by not just doing a cake, snacks, and decorations on the superhero theme, but doing superhero training centers! Not really my ball of wax, but after talking to Brother's kindergarten teacher who had thrown a similar party (but who is WAY more ambitious than I...she also let us borrow her Mr. Incredible suit, which my brother-in-law was willing to don) and scouring Pinterest, I pitched the idea to Husband. He was in favor, which is great because he is super creative and very handy. One of the training centers was developing super hero aim so he built and painted this:

I made a banner:

And although I didn't take any pictures, hung paper lanterns all around the porch with super hero masks on them. I was particularly proud of that!

I had asked each guest to RSVP with their favorite super hero and then my mom (who is the COOLEST) made each of them individual capes, so one of their training stations was to get their capes!

Another was making masks, which I found on Amazon:

And there was the spidy-powers one where they shot down enemies with silly string:

And probably the most popular was practicing their super strength by knocking down the wall:

Grandma made her a supergirl cake:

And all in all, we had a great party. The weather was great, we had a good turnout, and Sister had a SUPER time!

Happy 3rd, Lucy Jean

Written 10/3/15

Dear Lucy,

You are three years old today - a "threenager," I heard someone say -and I think (fear?) this is will be the term to categorize the coming year. You are so independent, headstrong, and brilliantly creative, and I just know THREE is going to be a doozy.

You have so many unique characteristics at this precious stage. Whenever you see something interesting, instead of pointing like a normal child, you use your entire hand to gesture toward the object. If something is scary, you don't cry or shy away from it, you just watch with hesitant curiosity. You LOVE babies, and when baby Jonah was born this summer, you changed all the names of your dolls and stuffed animals to Jonah and rocked them and sang to them, and every time you prayed, you thanked God for baby Jonah. 

When you speak, you do so with grandiose expression, as if you are determined to hit every note in your vocal range in one quick phrase. You love girly things, like pink and tea parties and clothes nail polish. In fact, while daddy and brother were at man weekend, we went and got our nails done together. You loved it.

You LOVE your boots, and since it's starting to cool off, it's been fun to both wear boots so we match. 

And speaking of boots, you've got style, girl. I love helping you pick out things to wear. Here are a few of my favorites from this year:

Also, lately, you have loved brushing my hair and we have spent many moments at the bottom of the stairs, me on the first step and you poised above me, brush in hand. (Thankfully, I have a hard head. ;) You LOVE to read. We will snuggle up on the couch or in your bed and read books, and if I don't stop you, you would bring me books over and over and over again. 

You have a very tender heart and I pray it stays with you instead of becoming something you grow out of. When someone is hurting or sad, it breaks your heart. We are trying to teach you to respond by taking it to God. And you are learning.

We transitioned you into a big-girl bed this summer, and then wondered why we waited so long. You LOVED it! You called it your "big girl bed" and bedtime became something you looked forward to.

Something I WISH you'd do the same with is the potty. With your brother, we had a sticker chart, and every time he filled up one row, he got a train. With you, we decided to try the same tactic. You were NOT interested, not even when we threw M&Ms into the mix. Though one day this summer, when your brother had gotten his tonsils taken out and people were bringing him ice cream, someone brought you a book of stickers. I found you in the bathroom 15 minutes later, where you were adding the last few stickers to your now-completed potty chart. Sly, girl. Sly.

One of my favorite things about this stage in your life is watching you interact with your brother. You look up to him (certainly more than he realizes) and I love watching you learn new things from him.

Another of my favorite things about your current phase of life is watching your daddy be your daddy. I always knew the two of you would have a special bond and watching it has brought me so much joy.

We are so in love with you, Lucy Jean. You are full of life and you are making ours richer with every passing moment. I love you, and on this third day of October, 2015, I wish you a happy birthday.

Love,

Mommy