I gotta be free

I know those crocs are all the rage, but I just can't buy a pair. They do fall into the range of so ugly, they're cute, but for some reason they remind me of the foot version of being stuck in an elevator. These women seem to know something I don't, so eventually I'm going to give them a try. But not yet. Maybe I'll get a nice olive green or orange pair for fall.

Pictured is the way I prefer to shod myself until it's too cold to do otherwise. Don't look too close, though. I'm in desperate need of a pedicure. And some weed killer. Yikes.

On to other news. I am officially signed up for college, but I am sad. I have a ton of credits but only about 18 of them will transfer in my quest for a bachelors degree. I keep telling myself that no learning is wasted, but I wish I knew then what I know now. I will also, most likely, be the oldest student there, which is scary. Hopefully, it will mean I will be the one with the best grades. At least I know my kids can help me with my homework! :)

For now, I am off to enjoy the rest of my summer with my feet as bare as they can be. School and boots are just around the corner.

Games

Our family has discovered a quick and spirited game that all ages can play. PIT! It is a shouting, trading, cornering your market game. Everyone gets nine cards and the object is to trade with other players in order to get all the same cards, thus "cornering your market". The non-readers can match pictures and our little non-reader has won her share of hands, so it is really fair for everyone to play. It's a hoot! People are calling out, three, three who wants three... there are no turns, and you get to slam a bell when you win. Love it!

Yahtzee is another game we can all play, except for the math part.

I also love to challenge the kids to a good, old-fashioned game of Ms. Pac-Man. I am a child of the 80's and I can kick hiney with the arcade games. They won't even accept my challenge to play Galaga anymore!

Bounce Out is a stupid yahoo game, yet I am compelled to play it. I hate it. I love it.

The object is to put same colored marbles together in groups of three before the stick of dynamite, which is the timer, makes all the marbles shake and quiver and give you a nervous break down. It's a nail biter, I tell ya.

There is also a panic button if you get stuck. What kind of game offers a panic button?

This game is an incredible time waster. If you are say, trying to write a book, need to make dinner, have laundry to do... I suggest you DO NOT click on the above link.

Yahoo does have a great game called Text Twist. A word unscramble game. We will all stand behind the computer and call out words before the timer runs out. If you get the seven letter word, you get to move on to the next level. Very fun.

Anyone have any games they want to share?

My Hot Beverage Makers

Blackbird asks that we show our coffee makers for show and tell Thursday. I have never made coffee in my own home so I don't own one, but I do like to drink the fancy coffees at the coffee shop or have it in other people's homes.

The best thing I can come up with is my trusty silver kettle. I do drink tea and hot chocolate at home so this is what I use. It sounds like a train coming through the kitchen when the water is ready.

My other hot beverage maker is a Mrs. Tea. The feminine version of Mr. Coffee. I cannot find the tea pot that goes to her any more. It never really got the water hot enough to make a good cup so she has been retired to the top cupboard with the K9 Advantix and the Heartgard plus that we give to the dogs. I guess I should get rid of her, but my hubby gave it to me as a gift and it is kind of neat to have around when I need to keep a whole pot of tea warm, but I never make the tea in it. I guess it's kind of pointless if I can't even find the pot, though.
So, there is my pathetic attempt to participate in show and tell. Hopefully next time I will have something more exciting to knock your socks off.

Look what I bought

Isn't it the cutest? Go to Biscotti Togs to see the amazing bags that Wilsonian makes. She uses vintage fabrics and every bag gets a story written about it. There are some really cute little totes and bags that you can take to nice places. She has an etsy store. Go to her blog to get to her shop. And you will not believe the great prices for hand crafted work. I don't think I will buy a store bag again. This one kind of reminds me of the bag Kirsten Dunst uses in the movie Elizabethtown.

There is a whole world out there of people making the things we need (want). I love that by buying this bag I am encouraging someone in their creativity. I'm even going to try something crafty myself. I'm getting my sewing machine tuned as we speak.

Another friend told me about the wardrobe refashion blog. Women who have made a two month committment to not buy anything new, but to refashion their own things into creative expressions of their own style. I am a member by default. I haven't bought anything new for awhile, (not counting my bag) but I have not done anything fun with the stuff I own. Look for the post where a girl turned a Dwight Yoakam concert T-shirt into a pair of capri pants. Super Cute!

Okay, that's all my good finds for now. Please go check these great sites out!

Free Books

While blog reading this week, someone asked why do you blog? what got you started? and why continue?

My blog is fairly new, so it was easy for me to answer. Two words: Free books!

I have been reading blogs for a couple of years, but never felt the need for my own. My life, while fabulous in its own way, is not the kind the average joe wants to read about.

Then, Brenda Coulter offered a free book to anyone who would read and post about it, good or bad, on their blog. Of course, my eyebrows go up and my blood starts pumping. Two of my favorite words coming together in one beautiful sentence. But, alas, I had no blog to post on. So I whipped one up, (which is not hard since blogger has done all the work) wrote to Brenda that I agreed to her terms and got my book. Then, I won her other book on her blog in some sort of contest, too.

This month, I won a contest from Deeanne Gist. Her first book, A Bride Most Begrudging, is a great historical romance that I loved, loved, loved. Others must agree with me, because she just won a Christy Award for best romance from the CBA. The book I won is called Measure of a Lady, and I am saving it for vacation. This was the easiest contest I have ever entered. I had to guess what she named her dog. I guessed wrong, but must have ended up in the hat anyway. I am very much looking forward to reading this and anything else that Deeanne writes.

Today at Lisa Samson's blog, she let everyone know that her publisher is sending books to bloggers who will comment about the book. Lisa's is the first blog I ever discovered because I loved her books so much. I also liked that I read her early historical novels, which were nice, but then she started writing books with some punch that got me to think. You know how sometimes you read something from an author and it's good, and then the next book is good, too, and then the same with the next? And then you just stop reading that author anymore? With Lisa, the books get better and better. (She is also a Christy Award winner) I can see her improvement and it makes me want to cheer her on and try to be like her. Don't misunderstand, she was never a bad writer, I just see that she is a hard worker and it shows. If you haven't already, put her blog in your favorites. She is great for aspiring writers, like myself, and you will learn a lot. Straight Up is her newest book that releases mid-September.

So, four free books in the four or five months that I've been blogging isn't bad! And it's not bad for the authors either. They get publicity and you know I'm going out to buy their other stuff. Not to mention the fact that I am very glad to have my own blog. That I have a place to tell the little stuff that happens to me to strangers that might find it interesting. What a wonderful place to be!

Summer Freedom

My glorious three months of summer have been reduced to one week.

Until next week, we are busy with swim lessons, softball, baseball, baton lessons, movie making, thinking up parade float ideas (don't ask), pizza parties, sleep overs, and in general, running amok.

Then, there is one blessed week on the calendar with NOTHING on it! (Except for two sports physicals, but those hardly count.)

Then it all starts again. Only different, because we will be six in a minivan traveling thousands of miles together and having a busy and hopefully fun time. Then there will be back to school shopping, getting ready for more sports, cleaning closets, enrolling for school, etc.

I could use a good snow storm right about now. But not on my one week, that is reserved for the pool and frozen cokes, good books and... Never mind. If I think too hard I will fill that week up, too.

My hubby, the independent film director

He's the guy in blue. He is amazing! He has written the screenplay, hired cast and crew, contacted investors and is even his own cinematographer after the one he thought he had backed out.

Shooting began June 19 and is scheduled to wrap July 15. He has a small crew and cast but it is still a huge undertaking. It has been a very busy few weeks for us. But these are exciting times.

Filmmaking is his passion (besides me, hee hee) and we are praying that this will be the first of many stepping stones in the right direction toward a full time career in the movie making business. He is talented but it's a hard business to break into, especially living in the middle of the nowhere, like we do. But he is taking opportunities as they come and we are excited for the future.

So, if you are the praying sort, please send some up for us! Specifically, we are still trying to get investors for the rest of the budget, pray for good weather and smooth sailing, and for the editing process and post production to go well. If you are curious, go here to see some production photos. It's not very comprehensive, but you'll get the idea of what we've been up to.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Happy Independence Day.

See where Matt's been

You gotta go see this guy.

This is such a happy, wonderful, joyful video. You gotta go watch it. I am still smiling. And, the song is awesome.

These are some of the neat places we have in our town.

Someone spent a huge amount of time on this mural. It's great. My kids pretend to enter the arches and open the doors.

Right next door to the mural is the best Chinese food place ever. It's my favorite Almond Chicken of all time. You can split a meal three ways and still feel pretty full, but it's better to just split it halfsies. It does need a little cosmetic work, though.

The picture with the tables is like a secret garden. You have to squeeze between two buildings to get there and I don't think anyone ever uses it. Maybe at festival times, but someone keeps it up. I would love to cover the place in candles and take hubby for a romantic, moon and candle light dinner.

The Coffee Mill has really great chicken salad with bits of pineapple in it. It's also owned by my friend, so I like to go there to support her business. She has the gift of hospitality and a great sense of color and a head for decorating. Her cafe is a great place to sit and relax. This year my friends and I went there for the first day of school and we all met again for the last day of school. The beginning of a new tradition!

And finally, have you ever seen a better example of the All-American home? I love this house. It's much bigger than it looks and has fabulous landscaping. It also has an unattached three car garage that looks like a bungalo. Very pretty and peaceful looking, isnt' it? Looks like a place a character from a book would live.

Garfield and The Omen

Hubby and I went to see Superman last night. Saw this sign as we waited to go into our theater. I don't know. Something about these two movies in the same theatre creeped me out. You just wouldn't think these would be used in the same sentence.

Superman had a great look, very retro. I thought the new guy was a good fit; nice smile, looked the part, especially in his Clark duds. I liked the new Lois but kept picturing her as a blond surfer. She did a good job. I had to ask about the time line, though. Hubby said that this movie takes place after the second, as if they were acting like movies III and IV never happened. I didn't think I had ever heard of Lois having a kid before and Clark and Lois seemed so much younger than if they were just picking up where the other movies left off. I guess I'm just not up on my Superman story lines and folk lore.

Can't wait to see Devil wears Prada. Gotta love Anne Hathaway. I'm on the wait list for the book at the library. I always love to compare the written and film versions. (Yes, I have to use the library occasionally! I can't buy every book, but I do buy books from my favorites, you know who you are! Gotta support those hard working writers out there, 'cuz you know I'm going to want you to buy mine someday. Word.)

Just finished Eat Cake and am reading Kick-Ball-Change, by Jeanne Ray. Loved Eat Cake. A real family, with real problems, helping each other against odds you wouldn't think were surmountable. A wife and a husband who loved each other. A snotty kid who turned out to be not so bad. A mom and dad with their own set of things to deal with. AND CAKE! I bought a birthday cake just to have around after reading this book, so there is some danger!

Great book lists are another reason I love reading blogs. I don't think I would have found this author if she hadn't been praised by other bloggers. Nice, light summer reading is what I'm all about right now.

Here, here and here are a few sites that have posted about their reading lists lately. Go check them out. You may have to peek around in their archives to find them, but that's half the fun. Beware of the second link, though. Lisa is having a year of reading dangerously, and there's not a lot of light, summery stuff there. I am going to try to read Of Human Bondage this summer. We'll see how that works out.

Thanks for sticking around on this long ramble! Must be the heat.

June is for...

Lightning Bugs



Birthdays




Learning to ride without training wheels! Good job, Sprite!

The prodigal dogs

We have naughty dogs.

Buddy and Scout need a lot of exercise and they like to run, but alas, we have a small yard and my top speed is a quick walk, so they don't get what they want unless they escape. If Scout, the yellow, girl dog, escapes, she will come back because she doesn't want to do anything unless Buddy, her brother, goes with her. Buddy doesn't care, if he gets out, he's gone.

Sunday, they both got out and were gone for hours. Finally, we stopped searching and left home ourselves. When we pulled in hours later, there they were, patiently waiting and exhausted. They probably thought we weren't coming back.

I'm happy they were home instead of doggie jail, which costs $15 each if we have to bail them out, which we have done before. The lady said we had to pay a fine because of the leash law. I tried to get out of it because, technically, they were leashed. They had escaped with leashes sailing behind them, which is how they were caught in the first place. The pound lady didn't buy it, so we had to fork over the dough. Our dogs never learn their lesson. They are sorry for a while, but they have a high rate of recidivism.

Isn't recidivism a great word? I learned that from "Raising Arizona" many years ago and try to work it into conversation whenever I can. :)

We are happy to have our naughty but loveable dogs back, even if they go give us grief.

If I were a poet...

this is what I would write about from my life today.

My girls making art on the deck around our community pool by dipping paint brushes in goggles full of water, and how by the time they were finished, the pictures had almost disappeared in the heat.

How my pretty daughter still looked pretty even though she pouted and moped when she didn't get her way and how my heart broke a little that she would not give an inch. And that I was embarrassed by her and for her and that I didn't handle it well.

Watching two balloons sail up in the sky. I wondered if they were let go intentionally of if there was a small child crying about it.

Having dinner with my son in folding chairs at an outdoor concert. Just sitting and being comfortable together.

The way my back feels now that is has been overly baked and how my head and eyes hurt a little after too much sun and chlorine.

How it's funny when a bunch of strangers come together to watch more strangers make their music and how we are all united for that little bit of time.

I felt glad today when I saw someone else's child throw a fit. It made me feel better about myself and then it made me feel worse that I felt that way! Motherhood!

And I would put into words the range of emotions I felt all day and the few tears that squeezed out even though I didn't have a full on cry. How I was happy and content and frustrated and exasperated and sad and back to happy and grateful and tired. Only I would say it in such beautiful prose and the words would turn and flow and resonate with someone besides me.

How I wish I could be a poet.

Sometimes you just need a little air guitar

Old men yelling

Men and their golf.

On my walk around the golf course this morning I witnessed three very excited old guys, screaming at their golf balls. "Go in!! Go in!!" It was very funny. The force of their breath probably blew that ball in the hole.

Then I saw a tall, skinny man do a victory dance. He kind of looked like a coat hanger doing a jig. Again, very funny.

I should walk more. You never know what you will see. Too bad I didn't have my camera.

To my two men

Happy Birthday, son! And Happy Father's day to a super dad, my hubby. It is great to see you guys loving each other and I'm glad you got to celebrate your special days together. I love you!

A respresentation of my organization skills

Piles, piles everywhere! Fortunately, show and tell is limited to hats... Here they are.


This is a pile of my girls hats, thrown up on a shelf.



A hat used for decoration in my laundry room. I do sometimes wear it when I am feeling springy and girlish.



More hats used for decoration. Son played little league and was a Yankee for three years running. We string all his caps across the top of his room.



Another big pile of hats thrown on top of hubbies closet.

My summer resolution? Clean out closets. Thank you very much.

Trigger foods

When asked what foods set me up for binge eating, dieting failure, and all around crappy eating, these are the first three things that come to mind...

I really should not ever eat, even one, red vine. I cannot stop. It is a sad, horrible thing. I have no control. I wish I could laugh at it but it's really kind of sick.

Butter is another enemy. When I nursed my son, I would eat a whole loaf of bread and more than a stick of butter a day. Now, if I start in with the butter, I can easily slip back into the stick a day habit. I try not to keep it in the house except for special occasions. Unfortunately, I shouldn't ever bring it in the house because I WANT IT ALL THE TIME!

Diet Coke... What can I say. I know it's bad for me. I gave it up for Lent. It's another can't-have-just-one situation for me. Not to mention it's expensive and when I decide to stop I have to go through withdrawal symptoms, again. You'd have thought I learned the first time.

This is why I don't drink, not ever. My tendencies are dangerous.

So, starting right now, I am off the proverbial sauce... again. It's water, I can't believe it's not butter spray, and sugar free gum.

Lord, help me.

Go read this

Go read the June 2nd post called the The Crowded House at ragamuffin diva.

This woman writes hard stuff. I often gasp or feel a flinch in my heart when I read the things she writes about. She is poetical and real and as honest as all get out. Very brave. Look through her archives if you get a chance.

Thank you Mair, for showing us that the ugly stuff can be beautiful when brought to the feet of Jesus. You have a very special and unique gift.