Book Review: Winterdance

I recently finished reading the book Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. It was chosen by my book club as our August read and I still haven't gotten over it. Have you ever read a book and grieved when it ended simply because it meant you would not be able to read it any more? This book did that to me and I'm not really sure why.

I checked the book out from the library and it is not a new book (I believe it was written in 1995), so the cover was not exciting. Yes, I judge books by their covers - I'm shallow like that. But, that being said, I don't (always) let it keep me from reading the book. I will admit, I wasn't excited about reading this book and it sat on the table for about a week after I had checked it out before I made myself start reading it.

Once I did, it wasn't like other great stories that don't let you put them down because of the suspense. And the writing wasn't terribly eloquent. It was just that it was fascinating stuff! I couldn't believe why someone would subject themselves to the things the author had subjected himself to in training for and running the Iditarod. And yet, his stories somehow drew me into his crazy world of dogs and snow and sleeplessness and moose attacks. I found myself relating everyday occurrences to the book, as in "that's how it is on the Iditarod" as if I have any idea what it is like on the Iditarod.

I became addicted to the stories he told. I fell in love with the lead dog. I held my breath when he told of running on bad sea ice. And I cried when the author, after being diagnosed with heart disease and ordered by the doctor not to run dogs any longer, had to call someone to take his dogs away before he got home as he couldn't stand to see them go. It was a great read.

And now I must see Alaska.

Happy Birthday Katherine Mae!

Kate turned 5 this week and it seemed like we celebrated the entire week! Her birthday fell on Tuesday, so I took cupcakes (which she and James made - props to Daddy) to her school so she could celebrate there. That day I had lunch with her at her school and then took her and a school friend to the movies to see Ramona and Beezus and then home to play. Tom and Laura came over that evening and we opened presents. Some of the highlights were a castle for her miniature Disney princesses, a strawberry shortcake remote control car, and a canopy for her bed.


After opening presents, we went out to eat to celebrate Kate's birthday as well as her Grandfather's birthday, which was the following day. Kate had requested macaroni and cheese for her birthday meal, and she and Owen both love the mac and cheese at Puleo's (where kids eat free!) so we headed there and then back home for some cake and ice cream.





And that was only Tuesday.

Wednesday, a package came from Aunt Carrie. Thursday a package came from Grandma and Grandpa. Friday was spent preparing and shopping for groceries and party essentials for the big day on Saturday.

Saturday, we had a few girls over for a girls only dress-up tea party (but Daddy, Grandfather, and Owen were invited at the last minute because Kate wanted her Daddy to be there).


I didn't think to get a picture of all the girls together all dressed up, but they were cute. Everyone came dressed up in princess attire (how else would a girl dress up?) and they really just played together for a while and then we ate. Then they played a little more, changed clothes and then went outside to play. It was a pretty low-key affair, but still fun for the girls.

I was glad when the party was over and we could stop celebrating! But, I was also a little sad to think that my little girl will never turn five again and won't really be a "little girl" any more.

My Little Redshirt

Kate started pre-k on Friday and seemed to enjoy it. She didn't appear to be nervous going into her class and she was just fine when I left despite the fact that the one girl she knows in the class wasn't there yet. When I picked her up, she said she had fun, though she was a little confused as to why her friends from last year weren't there. Prior to this year, she had attended the same "school" (Mother's Day Out) for four years, so I guess she expected everyone to move on with her, even though we had talked about the fact that most of them would be going to kindergarten or other schools.

Kate's class is a transitional class for five-year-olds (which she will be tomorrow!) at a preschool very near our house. We decided to give her one more year before sending her to kindergarten. Lots of people have asked her if she was excited about kindergarten in the past few weeks, unaware that she wasn't going this year, but she hasn't asked any questions about it.

The New York Times published an article this weekend about people waiting to send kids to kindergarten. They called it "The Littlest Redshirts..." which I think is pretty clever - if you're not familiar with college athletics (I know my mom is asking herself what a redshirt is...), the term comes from the practice of postponing the participation of college athletes in competitive games so they are freshmen on the team when they are actually sophomores in school. If you're interested, you can read the article. It takes a pretty good look of the reasons parents choose to have their kids "sit out" one more year and the some of the affects this has on other kids.

I was a little concerned about how she would react when the five-year-olds at church with her moved up to the elementary class this summer, but Kate didn't care that she did not move up and seems very comfortable to have stayed where she was. She always seemed to get along better with the kids who were a little younger rather than older than her.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this school year. It's going to be a busy one for us with Kate and Owen in two different schools with different schedules and Owen in speech two days a week!