Exceedingly Mundane

Tim and I went out for a “date night” on Friday night – we went to the local pizza buffet and stuffed ourselves silly. Do you hear that – glup, glup, glup – that’s the sound of my arteries clogging up and all of those calories going straight to my thighs! LOL, it was fun and it was really good, but I ate altogether too much, then I have that sort of guilty feeling afterwards for overindulging on food that’s not really that healthy. Oh well 🙂

After we got home, we called and wished Tim’s brother Mark a happy birthday. We hope you have a good birthday Mark, he’s going to get to celebrate again today. Enjoy the movie!

We turned on the TV at 9 PM so we could catch the new show, Psych. We used to be big Monk fans, and although I still really like the show, Tim is a bit aggravated with it. He doesn’t really like TV shows that don’t stick to a normal scheduling routine. Monk tends to appear at odd times, like January, and run through March, and Tim hates that. I still love the show and would watch it, but sometimes the “King of the Remote” overrules me! But, he had seen a few minutes of the pilot episode of Psych last week and thought it looked good. And I must give Jane at Cozy Reader a shout out for blogging about the show last week. Thanks Jane, you were right – Psych is funny and we really enjoyed it! It’s sort of along the same lines as Monk, but rather than him being OCD and solving crimes, the main character (Sean) is just a really observant guy who is good at figuring things out, but he has led the police to believe he’s a psychic who is figuring out cases by his psychic visions. He was really funny when he tried to do his “psychic ability” routines. Good show and we enjoyed it! 🙂

Today, we’re going to get to hang out with Tim’s parents. His mom and dad are coming over to eat, go shopping and hang out with us! Should be fun, we love spending time with them and just wish we got to see them more often.

Have a great day everyone!

Friday July 14, 2006
Feast One Hundred & Two

Appetizer
Name one thing nice that you could do for someone else today. Specifically or in general? Believe it or not, I try to do nice things for Tim every day. I try to be polite to everyone I meet, I try to let people turn out of side streets and businesses when I’m driving along the road, because I’m usually not in a hurry and they are. I’m going grocery shopping today, and I’ve often told people to go ahead of me in line if they have fewer items than me. I try to thank the cashier, the greeter, the bag person, whomever. Does ANY of that count?!

Soup
When was the last time you were frightened by the weather? Easy one. I’ve never really been afraid of the weather, but last year during Hurricane Katrina, I was very bothered by the weather. We weren’t in the direct path, but close enough to get hours and hours of wind and rain. After we lost power and it had raged on for several hours, the sound of the wind really got to me. I’ve never been affected by weather before, but the howling of the wind really affected me after a while.

Salad
What would you say is the most useful website or blog that you visit? Hmm…. I like search engines like Google and Blingo, for finding out almost anything imaginable. Also love IMDB for anything related to movies, actors, tv shows, etc.

Main Course
Who was your favorite singer/group when you were a child? Oh wow, I remember jumping up on my bed, holding my hand out in front of me like a microphone and singing Monkees songs. “Oh what can it mean, to a …Daydream believer and a homecoming queen” There, is that old enough for ya?!!!

Dessert
Do you have any rituals? If so, what are they? My, my, what a question for a girl like me! My sister made up a word years ago – she calls me “routinized”. As in the most routine-oriented person she knows. Now, assuming routine equates to rituals, then yes, I have a lot of rituals! Some are holiday or seasonal related, like I like to make the same things at Christmas (my hot cocoa mix, reindeer food, things like that). I also have tons of daily rituals, including that I do certain kinds of laundry on certain days of the week. For example, I always wash towels on Tuesdays and sheets on Wednesdays. Don’t ask why. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, except maybe that I liked the alliteration of “towels on Tuesday” 😀 Lately, I make sourdough bread every week, and I do the starter on Wednesdays and then bake the bread on Thursdays. I clean certain parts of the house on certain days, and run certain errands on other days. I’m exceedingly routine-oriented!

I finished another library book, in record time for me. It took me less than 2 days to read this one, “Shem Creek” by a previously new-to-me author, Dorothea Benton Frank. Maybe I was in the mood for a book like this to curl up with, maybe I was in the mood for something distinctly Southern, maybe I just made more time to read (since my ankle is hurting and wrapped up and I’m trying to stay off of it some) – but for whatever reason, I flew through this book! I must say, I really enjoyed it, and I plan to definitely read more of her books. This book read like you hear people “down here” talk, and it was a very quick read for me, with a good ending. Love those kind!

For the record, that makes #40 so far this year, with a total of 14,140 pages read. Up next, I think I’m going to try to actually read a book I have bought and is sitting on my nightstand, collecting dust. Never fear, though, I will have to go back to the library soon and get more books – I do so much better with books that I have a deadline to read them by, so I can return them on time! 🙂 Next, I’m going to start “Memoirs of a Geisha” and hope to read it soon so I can rent the movie. I always prefer to read the book before seeing the movie, even though I’ve been told I will be disappointed. I’ve got a system and I’m sticking to it though 🙂

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to Mark!

Hope you have a great day, Mark, and a wonderful weekend. You’re lucky this year, since your birthday falls on a Friday, you get to celebrate all weekend long. Those are the birthday rules, so be sure to have fun all weekend, and celebrate each day like it was your birthday!

I blogged a looooong time ago, way back in March 2005, right after I started this blog, about a new Levolor rattan blind we had bought for our bathroom. We did a major construction project in our bathroom before I started blogging – we took down the hideous wallpaper, painted and put up a border. I say major, because we discovered the builder/contractor had not prepped the walls when they slapped on the wallpaper, so when we started peeling it off, huge chunks of drywall came down along with the wallpaper. Tim had to work a week or more on mudding the wall and getting it to a point where we could apply paint. I ended up having to do a faux finish on the walls, because they are so “bumpy”.

Anyway, I digress (as per usual). I found this rattan blind I really liked, and so we bought it and hung it up. It’s fine during the daytime, it let in light and I could sort of see out into my backyard and flower beds. However, we quickly discovered that at night, if you were in the bathroom and had a light on (duh, it’s nighttime) and someone was out back, they could see right in. Which might be fine if you weren’t say, naked, in the bathroom about to get a shower. Tim didn’t like it, and I didn’t like it. I originally blogged about it here, although back then, I didn’t do a lot of pictures. Here’s a picture of the blind, in the morning (that window faces east):

Tim has disliked this blind since the second day, and we’ve been procrastinating on getting it replaced. I found a 2″ wood blind, in a soft brown, at Home Depot a while back, and we finally went over there and picked it up last Sunday afternoon. Tim hung the new blind, which he likes a LOT better! In fact, I really do too, and part of me (not the frugal part), would love to replace our old custom-made Levolor blinds that are 1″ vinyl with some nice new 2″ wood blinds. The part of me that pays the bills would not like to succumb to this, however. 😆

Here’s the new blind, for those of you who are in any way interested!

I finished another library book last night, “Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult. This is the second Picoult book I have read (I finished “Plain Truth” earlier this year) and although I enjoyed it, I did like “Plain Truth” better. I think I liked the Amish aspect of Plain Truth more. This book was very well written, a very good read, but I did get bogged down with a couple of the plotlines that were woven in. Where “Plain Truth” was about the Amish way of life, this book encompassed life in Arizona, including some about the Hopi Indian way of life. More so, it involved a character being in prison and I got very bogged down in her descriptions of prison life – the gangs, the tattoos, the hierarchy, the weapons they fashioned, how things work in a prison. I put the book down for several days when I got mired in that, and then was able to get through it and finish it. I was glad the book ended the way it did – it turned out how I wanted, and I always like that. I hate a book that ends badly.

Having said all that, I did enjoy the book and am glad I read it. Rather than trying to write my own synopsis, I will reference you to Amazon’s 2 reviews of it here, and say that the second, by Bookmarks magazine, is more in line with my feelings on the book. And, in case you want to know more, here is the synopsis from the book’s jacket cover…

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can’t recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it.

In shock and confusion, Delia must sift through the truth – even when it jeopardizes her life and the lives of those she loves. What happens when you learn you are not who you thought you were? When the people you’ve loved and trusted suddenly change before your eyes? When getting your deepest wish means giving up what you’ve always taken for granted? “Vanishing Acts” explores how life – as we know it – might not turn out the way we imagined; how doing the right thing could mean doing the wrong thing; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat. Once again, Jodi Picoult handles a difficult and timely topic with understanding, insight and compassion.

For the record, that makes #39 so far this year for me. This book was longer than what I normally read, weighing in at 418 pages, so that brings my pages read count to 13,824. Up next for me is another new author, Dorothea Benton Frank, and an older book of hers entitled “Shem Creek”. I hope it is good!

Look what Tim brought me home tonight from the Pro Shop… he knows how much I love all of the “Life is Good” products! I am working on an online order of shirts, caps and a mug, but I might have to take that mug out of my cart now!!!

Yippee, can’t wait to use it! He’s such a sweetie!

When I was reading the book “The Secret Life of Bees” a couple of weeks ago, I ran across one sentence that conjured up some memories from my childhood. It’s a inconsequential sentence, on page 112. The main character, a girl of 14 named Lily, had just had a small fainting spell and the other characters were fussing over her. The book reads “We sat in the den, where I ate supper off a tray, which was a privilege in itself.”

As soon as I read that line, I remembered this from my own childhood. Growing up, I really only remember being at home by myself. My sisters left for college by the time I started first grade. I remember all meals being at the kitchen table, with my mother and father. I have vague memories though, of being sick or it being a special occasion or something, and I would be allowed to eat in the den, on a tv tray. I remember doing this a lot more once I was older, like in high school. You know, once I was responsible enough not to make a mess and spill things on the couch or floor in the den. I think I can remember once, laying on the couch and I was sick, and I got to eat supper off the tv tray. It was chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers and a Sprite. My mom was big about Sprite if my stomach was hurting. And saltine crackers. And the soup from the red and white Campbell’s can. I also ate a lot of plain toast, no butter, if I was sick. When I started to feel better, she would scramble me an egg.

Anyway, it’s always been funny to me that I remember so little of my childhood. What I do remember is mostly from photographs, from stories others have told, or just very small snippets of things that will pop into my head at the oddest time. Like when I was reading this book. I remembered after reading that line that eating on a tv tray was a really big deal. I looked and looked for a photograph of me eating in the den on a tv tray, but of course I could not find one. My parents weren’t big on taking pictures at all (I think that’s why I’m so obsessed with it). What few pictures of me that exist are at Christmas or Easter. No everyday pictures, no pictures of things around the house, which I think is part of what spurs me to take so many “nothing” pictures. Anyway, I did find this picture of me in high school. I have no idea who took it or why, but I’ve always liked this picture of me! I liked the way my hair was pulled back in a ponytail! You can see the tv tray I’m talking about on the right. That’s the same set my parents had all my life. Some of those 60’s or 70’s models, thin aluminum and the legs folded flat against the tray. You popped them out and snapped the tray together. Eating off a TV tray was a big deal in my young life

Good Monday to everyone! Now, for this week’s questions…. and thanks for playing!

1. What is your favorite framed object in your house? Probably the wedding picture of us, that sits on the corner of my dresser in our bedroom.
2. If you had a choice of being a carnivore or a herbivore, which one would you be, and why? I don’t know if I could pick… I wouldn’t want to eat just meat or just veggies. I’d get too tired of either one without some variety
3. Who do you think should have won the FIFA World Cup? Or, don’t you care? Not into World Cup at all here… we’re impatiently waiting on NFL season to start
4. What’s your feelings on stormy weather? Love it. I love grey days, rainy days, stormy days, bad weather. It doesn’t bother me usually. The only time I’ve ever had problems with weather was during Hurricane Katrina last August. The sound of the wind after several hours really got to me
5. Do you believe in “time out” chairs? We don’t have kids, so we’ve never done “time out”. I believe in firm discipline for kids, but not sure I would have used the time out idea if we had been able to have children
6. Have you ever bought or sold anything on Ebay? Nope, have mightily resisted thus far:lol:

We got back late last night, and had a good time at Gail and Don’s. The guys got to play golf, which always makes them happy. Gail and I got to run some errands, and hang out, which makes us happy (we didn’t have to go to the golf course!). Today, Tim and I are going to try to catch a matinee of Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and then pick up some things at the grocery and maybe Lowe’s. Another quiet day, nothing blog-worthy going on around here!

We’re headed out in a little while, going to Don and Gail’s in the Delta. The guys want to get some golf in, so they are going to play this afternoon. Gail and I will probably just hang out, or go shopping, or basically – do anything that is not golf-related. I probably won’t get a chance to blog again until tomorrow, so everyone have a great weekend!

I noticed my first hummingbird at the feeder last week, and have been trying to get a picture of one ever since. Those little suckers are FAST! By the time I can pick up my camera (even if I have it close by), they fly away at supersonic speed. I had my camera out yesterday afternoon to take some pictures of some other birds, and noticed a hummingbird. I thought for sure I had gotten a picture, but the blame thing came out blurry. Darn, I will have to keep trying.

In the mean time, I got some other pictures of birds and things in my backyard. Once the rain stopped (we finally got about a 15 minute light rain shower), it looked like an aviary out there, birds of all kinds, tons of them. Plus, at one point, there were 4 squirrels playing in my backyard. Two were playing in the big tree and 2 were fighting on the fence for position at the squirrel feeder.

Click on the extended entry to see some pictures of my backyard wildlife 🙂

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Friday, July 7, 2006
Feast One Hundred & One

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital? Gosh, maybe over a year and a half ago, when our niece Abby was born. Nothing else is coming to mind, although we could have gone to visit someone else, and I’m just not remembering it!

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you? Hmm, about a 2!

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.) NOSE – Never Overestimate Someone’s Effect

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it? I’d start a book club. I would have to think for a while, weeks, maybe months, probably, to come up with a name!

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home? Light beige berber