this blog is on hiatus for a month or so

It's summer. The kids are outside in the pool, playing with the hose & running around the yard. I have to be with them & my laptop has a high gloss screen, making it impossible to use outside due to glare. Also, it's thunderstorm season, usually in the early evening, which means no computer use during them. So I will be catching up on my reading during this enforced lack of computer time. I am planning on rereading all 10 SPQR books, all 18 Didius Falco books I own and several dozen library books as well. I'm also experimenting with bread recipes that don't involve a bread machine. Mine broke & I'd rather put the $100 for a new one toward a Kitchen Aid 6 quart Professional stand mixer to replace the 4.5 quart Heavy Duty model we currently own.

And maybe I'll get a bit of scrapping in when I can use the computer. See you in July!

Love it or Hate it?

Scary Movies - hate them. They don't give me nightmares but they keep me from sleeping.
Amusement Parks - love them. I love riding rides, though most give me motion sickness now. I even love the rides at fairs
Valentines Day - I'm neutral. I love an excuse to eat chocolate but no one needs to get me anything
working out - I've learned to love it. After 2 years of regular workouts I really miss it when I gon't go
tattoos - love most of them. Not to fond of the death & destruction themed ones, but I love the art in general. I have 4 and I am seriously freaked out about needles. The difference about tattoos is, they are not an injection, and you don't have this big syringe coming at you. The needles are encased in a machine, you don't see them. They scratch you, not stick into you like a shot does. It burns more than hurts.
guacamole - love it. Homemade is best, that way I can control the onions (I don't like onions much)
Hillary Clinton - she worries me. I don't love her or hate her. I won't be voting for her but that is nothing to do with her, I just have this thing about voting 3rd party whenever available.
Napolean Dynamite - the movie - hated it
Meat Loaf - love the food and the singer. Paradise by the Dashboard Lights brings back so many fun memories
Forwarded Emails (videos, stories, etc.) - hate them. All of them, even the cute babies dressed up like fruit. Especially the "totally true stories" that a 15 second visit to www.snopes.com would prove false. Please, ask yourself before you hit send "If I had to pay for sending this, would I still send it?"

update

There is a new coffee shop in town! Called Raven something or other on Davis. Odd. For a long time there was no place to get coffee. I've lived here 12 years and for about 7 of them there were no coffee places. Then there was a short lived one. Then there was the drive up Gusta Vita & the Cameron Street one for awhile. Then Cameron closed. Then, not 1 but 2! Starbucks opened. One in Target and one across the street from it, with a drive thru. And there is one opening in the little plaza at the 3 & 15 intersection and I believe there is one somewhere on Main as well. And now this one Davis. Plus a tea shoppe. Proof positive of the spectacular growth of this county, assuming the vast new housing tracts were not enough to convince anyone.

I'm almost afraid to write about this because I always jinx it, but .... today and yesterday Mayhem not only pooped in the potty, he told me himself that he needed to go and did not ask for a diaper but just that I come sit with him in the bathroom. We'll see what happens next.

Havoc is #6 on the wait list for pre-K at public school. 6 is not too bad. Odds are good of 6 people dropping out by September, especially given there are morning & afternoon session. I can see people dropping out because they didn't get their preferred session. I don't care which session he is in, I suspect it will end up being the afternoon one, given nearly everyones preference for morning sessions. Morning would be more fitting with our current routine but afternoon has it's points too.

Signs that it is summer.... the kiddie pool is up, naked little boys are running around the yard in the sun and tonight is the first 'yard camp' of the season. We got the boys a little junior tent on Wednesday, mostly as a playhouse & set it up, but it is an actual tent and Havoc has been asking to sleep in it. Brad set up his one man tent next to it (it's only 65" long, I can't really lay straight in it) and they are all sleeping outside tonight. So far. We'll see how it goes. They did this last summer a few times but with everyone sleeping together in our big tent. I'm no sure one or both of them won't wake up in the middle of the night and be really scared if Daddy isn't in sight.

Sweet Shoppe survey

Q1: If you could vacation anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
I'd go back to England. There were so many things we wanted to do & see while we were there on our honeymoon and we lacked the time & money to do them all.

Q2: What cartoons do you absolutely detest & refuse to allow anyone to watch {be it child, spouse- haha, nieces/nephews.. etc just plain don’t want it viewed on your television)?
Sponge Bob. i think he is obnoxious & the boys don't need his example

Q3: You just woke up, you’re a mess, haven’t showered, there are dishes in the sink.. There’s a knock at the door, what do you do?
Depends on what room I am in & where the boy are. we have French doors. Anyone outside can see in them to the kitchen. If I am alone & in the living room or bedroom I'll just peek out the curtains & see who it is, answering or not depending on that. If the boys are home or I am in the kitchen, then the person is basically looking right at me. Depending on who they are I'll open the door or speak with them with the door closed.

Q4:When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thought that ran through your mind?
Goodness those 'fine lines' are getting deeper

Q5. Tell me a story about your Dad..
My dad is good person, very giving. He does a lot of work with teen boys through baseball. There was a boy who was a very very good player and Dad thought he had an excellent chance of getting a scholarship to college & maybe even make the majors. If his grades improved. The kid was from the projects, his dad was absent, his mom was busy providing for her kids & didn't have the time to take an interest in this. My brother & I were out of the house by this time & my parents took this boy into their home, helped him through 2 years of HS and into college. Dad has helped a number of low income teens, boys & girls track themselves into college with grades & athletic scholarships.

Q6: You open your drawer, find 1 pink polka dotted sock and 1 black sock with reindeer on it.. Do you wear them together and hope no one sees them or go without socks today & hope your feet don’t get sweaty?
go without socks

Q7: Are there any strange stains on your carpet, floor, walls, ceiling or couch? Do you know how they got there?
Our old carpet was full of them, most of them from juice spills or coffee spills. The new floor is still to new.

Q8: Are you neighbors annoying???
My nearest neighbor is a quarter mile away. he'd have to be trying very very hard to be able to annoy me. Somebody within a mile or so lets their dogs run wild and a black one keeps getting into our trash.

Q9: Are you a phone person.. if I called you right now would you chat with me? lol
I like to chat on the phone so yeah, I'd talk to you. :)

Q10: What colour popsicle would you like.. Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue?
Purple

some books & a discovery

My longtime readers (all 2 of you) will know that I am a major Douglas Adams fan, can pretty much recite the books (thanks to listening to them on audio so many times) and never pass up a chance to work a reference to them into everything I write. I know because I am an American, there are bits & pieces of things I still don't catch in them; references to things that I am simply not going to catch because of my nationality & my age. So I am always pleased when i find one. In his book "The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul", Kate visits a mental hospital called The Woodshead, while looking for Thor. There is a line in there, that when I read it, means nothing, but I've always thought it was given some emphasis on the audio version. Given that Douglas Adams himself is the narrator, I've long suspected I was missing something. The line is "I don't want to see anything along the 'Something Nasty in the Woodshead' business, being repeated". The speaker is referring to some unfortunate recent publicity. But I've recently come across a book of that title. The book was written in the late 70's and is 3rd in a crime/comedy-noir series, that apparently was a cult classic in Britain. It may be nothing, but given that I have always thought there was an unnecessary to the plot emphasis given to that line by Adams in the audio version, I really wonder if he named the place that just to be able to refer to the book. Which is something I can totally imagine him doing.

Being the orderly person I am, I cannot just read that book. I have to read the first 2 first. They are Don't Point That Thing at Me and After You with the Pistol. I have them on audio and am listening to the 1st one. I am enjoying it, but I think perhaps I might be better off reading it. I felt that way about Jasper Fforde's books in the beginning as well but ended up listening to 4 out of 6 of them before ever reading one and loved them all. It's mostly a matter of pacing. The book itself moves along well but the narrator does not.

I have that problem with things by Frances Mayes too. Under the Tuscan Sun was a great read and I suspect A Year in the World is as well. But they are both read by her on my audio versions and the pacing just kills me. She is a poet and she reads her prose
as if
it
were
a
poem..
with endless meaningful pauses. I haven't finished Year yet. I get bored with it and it makes me sleepy because she has this soft, melodic voice (great for poetry, not so much for prose) A friend of mine apparently has a version of Year that is read by someone else because she said the pacing was very good on hers. Under the Tuscan Sun was ok with pacing but really should have had the recipes abridged out of it.

April round up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

I read Victorian London by Liza Picard, Courtesans (can't recall the author) and the Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain. I reread Cooking for Mister Latte, Marriage with My Kingdom and several Agatha Christie mysteries. I also listened to seveal audiobooks including The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, Heat and The Well of Lost Plots.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

Various things. I don't watch much network stuff. I'm sick of crime drama and prefer my reality TV to focus on home improvement. I like "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel (but it is in reruns until July), and I've been hooked on "Robin Hood" on BBC America. I watch Mythbusters & Dirty Jobs as well.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

The 15th was my mom's birthday. We called her & the boys wished her a happy birthday.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

None given or received

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

I had some back problems. Havoc had an ear infection

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

What were this month's disappointments?

What were my accomplishments this month?

Anything else noteworthy to record?