Sunday Picture

A girl and her dog

Jack's Not Crying

Ok. I admit that I mostly hate Jack. But a curious thing is happening this season. Not only am I starting to like him. I'm starting to identify with him. Basically this can only mean that he is destined to die horribly before the series ends. One thing Jack and I have always had in common is our propensity to cry all the friggin time. Bonus that this video includes music by Flight of the Conchords- the funniest band in all of the world.

Yummo

The Melting Pot

Sweet Lord in Heaven I love this place.



This is only the second time I have ever been there. The first time was about two years ago. I was convinced Kevin was gonna propose to me on that first vist. He didn't. I still enjoyed the hell outta that meal. This trip didn't involve any anxiety or disappointment so it was even better.



CHEESE!!!



YUMMY BOILING BROTH!!!



KEVIN AGAIN!!!



MEAT!!!
(Lobster! Sausage! Chicken! Beef! Pork! Shrimp)
(Also a sundried tomato ravioli which was meatless but also lovely.)



CHOCOLATE!!!



STUFF TO DIP IN THE CHOCOLATE!!!



EVEN MORE KEVIN!!!


Obviously the food is frickin amazing but the atmosphere is awesome too. The place is really dark. The booths are enclosed so you feel like you are the only people there. And the wait staff are just ridiculously inconspicuous. They're like ninjas. Kevin and I are pretty easy to please. We can be happy eating a meal of cheese and crackers at our kitchen table so a meal like this left us gourmet drunk.

Quoted

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Em haz a flour!

Last Valentine's Day, Emily was a single gal. In fact, she lamented that the only valentine she received was from my mom and dad.

This year, she walked in holding a beautiful red rose. And it wasn't from any kind of relative. Victory!!!

And, yes, I know there is more to a teens life than whether they have a boyfriend. Trust me. I didn't have one for the better part of high school. But the simple fact is that, so far, this boyfriend doesn't seem like a punk ass delinquent and he makes Emily happy. And when Em is happy, we're all happy.

Book Review

I read everything Mary Kay Andrews writes. It's not pure trash. The love stories are generally tame. (Not Amish tame as most Christian romance novels are though.) I keep going back because she always writes really funny southern characters. Crazy southern people are a cliche because we have an awful lot of them. I'm related to many of them, btw.

The main character in this one is Dempsey Killebrew. I know. Unbelievable, right? Well Dempsey is a twentysomething lobbyist who gets hoodwinked by her boss and ends up embroiled in a scandal. She ends up fired and disgraced (temporarily). Her father offers her the opportunity to move to rural Georgia to renovate an old family home. There's a crazy old lady living in the house. There's a cute, young, single attorney who also lives there. There is an alcoholic real estate agent and some delightful FBI officers. Hijinks ensue. I just love hijinks. Don't you?

This book won't change the world. You probably won't be a better person after you've read it. But it's kinda like eating a Hershey bar. It's not dark or complex but it's pretty damn tasty.

Sunday Picture

Quoted

"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

Quoted

No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915)

Still

I miss her every day.

My best friend Debbie.

Don't worry. She's not dead or anything. She is living happily from all reports. I've done just enough quasi-stalking to know that she is helping lead one of the best high school marching bands in the state (maybe even the whole country). I know that was a lifelong dream for her. Maybe she has new dreams now.

We fell into friendship late in high school. I'm not sure how it happened. She was everything I wasn't. I loved being her sidekick. We were inseperable for the next four years. We probably drove thousands of miles in her old car. We always had some Broadway soundtrack blaring (did I mention we were nerds?) I admit that I lived vicariously through her. She was never scared to do or try anything. I was always shy(around strangers) and timid. I wanted to be Debbie when I grew up. I still do.

I haven't spoken to her in sixteen years. Sixteen years. Our junior year in college changed us both. Debbie made lots of new friends. I didn't. I made some incredibly stupid decisions which would nearly ruin my life for a few years. Debbie made good decisions which laid the foundation for her future success. We never had a fight. There were some misunderstandings and some hurt feelings on both sides but nothing that should have ended a friendship. I wrote her a letter when my oldest daughter was born. She never responded so I took that as a sign to leave it alone. I prayed she might be at our ten year reunion. She wasn't.

The truth is I just don't have that many friends. I know it seems impossible that someone as delightful as me has a hard time making friends but it's true. I have a few good friends and I count myself lucky to have them in my life. And don't feel too sorry for me, I got to marry the best friend I will ever have. But even an awesome husband can't fill the vacancy left by a best girlfriend.

After all these years, if you asked me who my best friend is, the answer would still be "Debbie".

I miss her every day.

Quoted

"Ridicule may lawfully be employed where reason has no hope of success."

Snow Daze

Like our last 'snow that wasn't', this storm had been predicted for a whole week. They actually had the forecast to 100% this time. The kids came home from school on Thursday with the news that school was already closed for Friday. The storm was supposed to move in overnight. Kevin and I woke up the next morning to...NOTHING. The weather people assured us on every newscast that regardless of the delay...IT WAS COMING!

And come it did...slowly. By late afternoon, the ground was pretty well covered but the roads were clear. Anna and Katie were at their mom's for the afternoon. Dylan and Emily were at Rachel's house and I took my girls the one mile to Zoe's house so they could sled for a while. We were there for literally 25 minutes when the road situation changed quickly. We hastily said our goodbyes and slowly made the drive home. The roads had gone from wet to complete icy crap in a half hour. Anna and Katie were snowed in at their mom's and Kevin wouldn't let Dylan and Emily attempt the drive home from Rachel's. I had anticipated a snow day with a house full of many kids and much noise. It ended up being a quiet, almost serene evening.

All that changed on Saturday. All the kids came home by early evening and the sledding, hot chocolate, dirty clothes exravaganza began in earnest. On the plus side, we had a ton of fun playing board games, watching movies and just generally laying around like lazy bums. The negative was the laundry...sweet Lordy...the laundry. The kids wear layers when they play in the snow. They had to have a fresh set each time they went outside. So the 5 little girls created about one full load each time they walked in the door. I hope to catch up by Spring.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sunday Picture

Quoted

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

Gandhi

Book Review - Quick Takes

This book is about nuns. Sarah Dunant's books are always about nuns for some reason. Nuns are pretty damn entertaining. Who knew?

Basically there's an actor and there's a housewife. They have a platonic frienship. She's a Mormon. It's weird.



This book started off slooooowly. It finally got rolling and managed to captivate and scare the living crap out of me. I don't want to think about this book anymore but I just can't stop...especially when it's dark outside.




Yet another Sookie Stackhouse novel. You know I love these books more than peanut butter but...this one felt kinda rushed. Now that True Blood has become pretty popular, I'm thinking they are probably pressuring poor ole Charlaine to knock out a new book every six months. She's got a lot of stuff to deal with people. Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and rednecks. Stop rushing the poor woman, would ya?

Quoted

The real enemy of the good is not the perfect, but the mediocre.

Ava and Katie annoy the hairdresser

Quoted

"If you don't stick to your values when they're tested, they're not values. They're... hobbies."

Jon Stewart, Jan. 22, 2009

Sunday Picture

Book Review

Dan Brown amuses me. I admit that I have liked every book he has written. They're entertaining as heck. But I like the Amazon reader comments about the book even better. There are so many arrogant writer-wannabees out there with apparently nothing better to do than write catty reviews of bestselling authors. Is Dan Brown the Tolstoy of the 21st century? Umm...no. But why does he have to be? I just hate the ridiculous notion that a book can't be simultaneously entertaining and well written. Writing action scenes must be very difficult. Brown writes almost nothing but action. I'm guessing it would be hard to write really well crafted character studies in the midst of all the other nonsense he has going on. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying I don't particularly care.

The Lost Symbol is exactly what you would expect from Brown. I thought the ending was a little stupid. And my take on some of Brown's biblical ideas would take too long and too many curse words to share in public. Nevertheless, read it if you want to be entertained. If you are too much of a smartypants to read entertaining novels, just go whine on Amazon instead.

Quoted

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

Albert Einstein

It starts young

On our third day of house arrest due to the blizzard of 2010, Katie demanded candy. I have been trying very hard to maintain a menu plan. Because of that, I had plenty of 'real' food to sustain us over the snowy weekend without a last minute run to Kroger. What I did not have was candy...of any kind.





Me: "How about a bowl of cereal?"
Katie: "No"
Me: "How about a bowl of ice cream?"
Katie: "No"
Me: "I'm running out of options here."
Katie: "I need chocolate."

(You should have seen the look in her eyes. It was pure hormonal lust. I've been there.)

Me: "We might have enough flour to make a cake with chocolate frosting?"
Katie: "YES!!!!"

Quoted

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race."

H.G. Wells