CEFR Level B1-B2
I recently finished reading Warrior Girl, a novel by Carmen Tafolla. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by current events in the US, I think you would benefit from reading this book. It isn’t long, it’s a story, and the writing is easy to read.
Instead of doing a formal review, I want to share what I wrote the morning after staying up too late to finish the book. What I’ll read has quotes from page 52 of the book. I'll indicate those sections with an asterisk after them. You can also hear me read this.
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 CEFR Level B2-C1 For the Love of Women by Dorothy Littell Greco (2025) is an accessible presentation on how misogyny is alive and well throughout US culture. The book’s focus is on healthcare, employment, government, media, relationships, and church. With 39 pages of end-note citations, this book is not unsubstantiated opinion. The evidence presented is backed by other evidence that readers can examine to see if they come to similar conclusions.
 Can you see the fern and the mushroom behind me to the left? Winter is full of life! I pulled down my neck gaiter so you could see more than my eyes. :) CEFR Level B1-B2 The state parks here often host a First Day Hike on January 1. Even if there isn’t an organized event, you can usually get a free First Day Hike sticker if you go to a state park on the first day of the year. A Master Naturalist friend and I wanted to go to an organized event, but it didn’t work for both of us. We decided to do a Last Day Hike on December 31 instead.
CEFR Level B2-C1
This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Road Trip. Part 2 will be January's Subscriber Exclusive in The Variety Page Circular.
August 11-14, 2025: Solo camping trip to Breaks Interstate Park (VA/KY) and Mammoth Cave National Park
 CEFR Level B2-C1 I prefer my clothes to be comfortable. Some people seem okay with wearing things for their looks. I try, but prefer comfort. That doesn’t mean I only wear elastic waistbands, though! It does mean that I use my sewing skills to make what I want. A stretchy sequin belt is one example.
 CEFR Level B2-C1 This is not a sponsored review. I completely read any book I write a review on. The Justice of Jesus by Joash Thomas (2025) is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live like Jesus Christ. This is no academic treatise, though! Nor is it a restatement of ideas commonly found in books shelved under “Christianity” in a bookstore. In accessible language, with plenty of section headers and a clear table of contents, The Justice of Jesus would make a good companion to personal devotions, a book for high school or college discussion, or to use in a group Bible study. I think it would be especially useful in a seminary class focused on the theology of the church or as assigned reading during a church-based internship.
 CEFR Level B2-C1 My second Christmas carol is ready! “A Gift to Us Was Given” tells the Christmas story in four verses and a refrain. I love that it is mostly in a minor key, giving the carol peaceful joy. The refrain, a celebratory response to the meaning of the verses, is in F major. This arrangement is in hymn style. The primary melody is created for the average congregant to be able to sing, but sopranos have the option of going up to a high A (A5). I love how versatile this hymn is. It could be sung like a lullaby or with gleeful anticipation. My one suggestion is for verse one, in measure four, get softer as you move to the end of the musical line. You may want to do this on other verses as well. Enjoy this new Christmas carol and let me know how you used it! Listen to my Composer Comments.
CEFR Level B2-C1
I’m so excited to finally publish this Advent/Christmas song! This arrangement of "That's Why You Were Born" is in hymn style and has a refrain that is easy to learn.
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CEFR Level B2-C1
At the moment, my life feels like constant triage. Do I memorize Hebrew verb paradigms or read for my other class? Can I push off prep for that paper a day or two more? Do I do boring paid work or the work that I enjoy and hope will one day pay? Have I practiced for my piano lesson? I suppose I need to eat more than cheese and crackers, but that means cooking. Exercise would make me feel better, but the tub needs cleaning or I’ll regret it next time I clean.
 CEFR Level C1-C2 The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone is an intense read at the beginning, especially if a reader has been taught to avoid saying anything that will make others uncomfortable or to use euphemisms or vague references if it is necessary to talk about such things.
 CEFR Level B1-B2 “It’s so beautiful,” they say,
And my eyes are wet. “I believe you,” I say, And my heart wonders,
CEFR Level B2-C1
This is not a sponsored post.
I was tired of fighting with the groundhog over who gets to eat the produce of my vegetable garden. I wish the groundhog no harm and don’t begrudge it the need to eat, but I also want to eat what I plant, ideally without any parasites from groundhog droppings. After a few years of the groundhog thanking me for giving it a safe enclosure to eat all the tender plants its great big rodent heart desired, I bought a raised garden bed from Garden-In-Minutes.
Now, this raised bed is three feet tall. The configuration I used makes it 1.5 feet wide and 4 feet long. I’ll let you do the math to figure out how many cubic feet of soil would fill up that thing. The important part is, I’m not rich enough to buy that much soil.
Snake photo below the break
CEFR Level B2-C1
This is not a sponsored post.
I’ve followed Her Packing List for years. Or at least, I read the website for years. If you subscribe to The Variety Page Circular, then you know my feelings about social media. At any rate, I think Brooke Schoenman offers a wonderful service that truly helps people. I think her mission offers so much value that I even worked for her as a freelancer for a bit. Before that, I took the class that is now called Baggage Freedom Express. It was absolutely worth the expense and time commitment. After the class, I joined the HPL Mighty Networks group and haven’t left since. One of the fun things we do to practice packing lightly is an annual rewear challenge. If you’re a member of the group, you get photo templates and support and the fun of doing a challenge in community. (I used a different template here so that I’m not giving away members-only content.) The smart thing to do when starting a rewear challenge is to pick a versatile item like a t-shirt. I was not smart. I gave in to I-Just-Made-This Syndrome and chose a heavy denim duster-dress. If you don’t know, September in the mid-Atlantic area is hot like summer. Most days this month were between 80-90℉.  CEFR Level B2-C1 Words, especially in fiction, were how I learned about myself and the world outside my context. Fiction is where I learned that other people felt what I felt and those feelings were called "anger" and "I don't fit in." Fiction is where I learned that life is usually better when you say what's true for you, even if saying it causes tension and conflict. Fiction is where I learned that just because a friendship doesn't last your whole life long, that doesn't mean the friendship wasn't real and the natural end of a friendship doesn't take away from how meaningful the relationship was. Fiction is where I stopped breathing in horror and when I started breathing again could only say, "God, we need you." Fiction taught me the human impact of history far more than any history class or biography ever has.*
 CEFR Level B2-C1 I’ve been tent camping for as long as I remember. Family trips, work requirements, solo trips, temperate forests, desert, rain forests, mountainsides, grasslands: With all that time spent outside, some trips have been better and others worse.
Ironically, one of my worst camping trips was also one of the easiest.  CEFR Level B1-B2 When I left public library work in 2022, I wasn’t sure what my next profession would be. All I knew is that I had given my heart and soul to doing my best in a role that required me to practice all the skills that are outside my innate talents and limited my opportunities to use the skills that help me to thrive. After ten years, leaving was 100% the right decision for me.
I didn’t know what my next profession would be, but I wasn’t limping into the void with no destination. CEFR Level B2-C1 In the summer of 2025, I was introduced to Soma. Unfortunately, their clothing line fits me as poorly as any other ready-to-wear line. When it came to sleepwear, some things I could make work, but what is up with the skinny sleeves? This is a brand for grown women. Grown women have girth around their biceps, at least on average. Good fit relies on proportions more than a S/M/L or even largest/smallest part-measurement size.  After browsing the shop, leaving, changing my mind, coming back, trying on several items, deciding not to buy anything, and wandering the store, I finally purchased the Geo Lace Pajama Cami. I love it! The fit isn’t perfect for my body, but it’s close enough. The fabric, the shelf bra, and the fit are comfortable for sleep. I wish I had another one.
I really wanted the Crinkle Satin matching separates, but they were more expensive. The cami didn’t fit as well as the Geo cami. The pants only fit in the sense that I could get them on my body. Again, proportions. CEFR Level B2-C1 I was browsing Dick’s Sporting Goods and came across the daypacks/school bags. Curious to see what was new and trendy, I took a look. Bungee cords to hold a jacket seemed popular. As always, colors were gendered, which is annoying for a variety of reasons.
Eventually, I came across the Patagonia Refugio. I’ve had good success with Patagonia fleeces and, as far as I know, the company has a decent reputation. I was eager to see what helpful features this 26 liter backpack offered. I didn’t make it past the first zipper.  CEFR Level A2-B1 While getting in my car for a hair appointment, I saw an ambulance parked in front of a neighbor’s house. Naturally, an ambulance is concerning, even though I don’t know this neighbor beyond chatting a few times when she is out working in their yard. Despite my curiosity, I continued to my appointment, which was in the opposite direction.
Half an hour later, I returned to see the ambulance still there. Would it be too nosy to drive past to see what was happening? 
This is not a sponsored post.
CEFR Level B2-C1
Can you wear lip color as a flute player? When I was in high school and college, I only wore lip balm (AKA chapstick).
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Jill Hames is a writer, musician, biblical studies teacher, and ESL tutor who finds life too interesting to pick a niche. She has a B.A. in Music and Spanish, a Masters in Library and Information Science, is TEFL.org 168-hour certified to teach English as a second language, and is working towards a Master of Divinity. Jill is a member of Delta Omicron and the International Women's Writing Guild.
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Copyright 2025
[email protected]
Copyright 2025