Keeping The House

Guess what folks? It's RAINingggg. Which means no baseball practice. BUT they had planned to go to pizza after practice and that's still on. Debating on if we are going to go or not since we just finished breakfast and it's almost 11. Yeah, thinking it's not going to happen since I haven't even showered yet.

I finished the book I've been reading this morning. I almost finished it last night but I had plans to go down to the bar with my friend and her sister. I was ALMOST done when she called and said she was almost here.  I was like ok! Tried to slam out the rest of the book real quick but had one chapter left when she called again and was like WTF where are you?? Whoops.

Keeping The House A Novel by Ellen Baker

I thought this book was really good. By looking at the title and the cover you think it's going to be all about a woman's life of cleaning the house. Which is a tiny part of the story. Boy, could I connect with a few parts of the book.

She awoke, and looked over at Byron, sleeping next to her. The shape of his forehead, his nose, his chin, and every curve of each eyelash, all were distinct, even in the dimness. She could see his chest rising and falling as he breathed, and could feel the heat of his body under the sheets with hers. She wondered how it was possible to know someone so intimately, to have seen and touched every curve of his body, to have heard his most private moans of pleasure and pain, to know the heat of his skin while he slept , without knowing him at all.


At the top of some of the chapters of the book is an excerpt from an old magazine or book.

A well-prepared dish and an appetizing meal is a creative achievement; therefore-I shall derive happiness from work itself.


--The Modern Family Cook Book, 1942


The specific process of learning how to face marital conflicts squarely must be carried out in a marital relationsip by the couple themselves. There is no magic involved; it is a procedure of constantly trying to discover the truth about one's self, the spouse, and the relationship, no matter how distasteful that truth may be.


--Marriage (a textboook), 1949


The time to put on the brakes in checking runaway emotions is before they gain momentum.


--The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book, 1939


I think I enjoyed the little excerpts as much as the story.

The story itself is a Story of the Mickelson Family through the years and Dolly. Dolly is new to town and falls in love with the empty Mickelson house. She finds out the story of the house through Ladies Aid meetings, which are held right down the street of the Mickelson house. Through the ladies and her own efforts Dolly learns all about the Mickelson family through the years of war and heart ache. She is also balancing her home life with her husband Byron, who is anything but romantic and fulfilling to her.

This is definitely a book I would recommend. What a great story with a few lessons to learn along the way.