Baby William, Life, and The Postmistress

I have not blogged in over a year. It was not intentional. I wrote a couple of entries and never published them. Blog ideas have been scribbled down on scraps of napkins and receipts, never to be acted on. There was never an urgency. Lately, however, I've had an overwhelming tug to get the blog rolling again. J and I have a HUGE life change coming our way in 2.5 weeks; our first baby is due on May 7th. With baby William Christopher Murray's arrival (Will), I know I will want to report and record the details, not only for family and friends to read, but also for myself, to help me remember.

That said, here is a quick review of the year I took off. 

• Christmas 2010 was spent in Seattle. My dad flew up and spent a week with us.
• Jason and I made emergency kits for our house and car. If snowpocalypse comes again, we will be ready! 
• WEDDINGS - Matt and Nancy, Polly and Kevin, Leslie and Sean, Abbie and Danny, Danielle and Steffen, Josh and Marla, Kyle and Kristy, Ashley and Andrew
• Jason and I took a summer camping trip to Lake Wenatchee and made a day trip to Leavenworth. AMAZING! 

Lake Wenatchee

• For our 2 year wedding anniversary in August, we stayed (thanks to Hot Wire and Momma Cattern) at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle, went to a Mariners game, wandered Pike Place Market, and got breakfast at the Crumpet Shop (which is pretty much my new favorite place to eat).
• We found out William was on his way on the morning of J's birthday - I'm pretty sure that was the best present he received. 
• The MacPhersons came for a visit and took me with them on a Sea Plane ride. Landing on water is like landing on a pillow.
• We hosted Thanksgiving in our apartment for J's family and my mom. I learned how to brine a turkey!
• Christmas 2011 was spent in California with my side of the family.
• We went to NYC for a weekend in January 2012 and saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Other highlights from the trip were hanging with Uncle Jimmy, cousins from New Jersey, and Lauren Bisom, visiting the Met (I saw real life Jackson Pollock paintings!), the World Trade Center memorial, the NYC Public Library (I saw the Audubon book in person!), and the view from the Top of the Rock.
• Jason and I went on a little baby moon to the Olympic Peninsula. We got a Groupon deal to stay 2 nights at these seaside cottages in Sequim. Highlights were the Hoh rainforest, hunting for heart shaped rocks at Ruby beach, and passing through the cute town of Port Gamble. I've decided I want to move to Port Gamble some day. It looks like something out of a Disney movie. 

In Port Gamble

To close, here is a review of the book, The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. We just read it for book club. Unfortunately, this stupid novel was my suggestion. I saw it several months ago at a book shop in Victoria. I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but I saw the cover and it was so pretty that I had to pick it up. The plot seemed intriguing; the story is set during WWII and is about a postmistress who doesn't deliver the mail, or at least that was the gist I got from the book jacket. 

I wanted to love this book, but aside from a few bits, it was really awful. To be fair, Blake tries really hard. The book had so much potential and it totally flops because she tries to cover too much. She had these amazing characters but never fully develops them and spends all her time flitting between war details like the bombing of London, the apathy of Americans, the use of Radio in the war, the attempts of Jews to flee Europe, and U-boats. Had she been more focused on one element of the war and spent more time on her characters, it would have been great. Her writing style is beautiful with vivid imagery, but the plot and characters sucked. Don't bother wasting time on this book.

xoxo E