I like what I see out my windows

http://www.eattheview.org/

Thanks Wendy for the link!

What do you all think?

in between outages

I think this one makes number 6 or 7 since March. Number 4 of the month of July. We lost less power in January! Whatever. At least we're not cold. This outage only lasted about an hour... but the thunder is still rolling, so stay tuned.

staying calm

I shouldn't panic about flying to Southern California this weekend, right? So what that there was a small earthquake, right? There's already been after shocks, so no worries? Getting to my uncle will be worth all the effort, but it is going to take some deep breathing to make it happen.

heading in and out of coverage

Hello, gentle readers...
Just a little notice that I'm gallivanting around for a few weeks and my ability to post will be spotty at best. I will hop on when I can!! Hope you're all enjoying summer bliss!!

people let me tell you 'bout my best friend...

So Boy chose to leave his friends (who are really more like cousins) at our house and come for a walk with me. He worked really hard to keep up with my strides. (I must admit, it's a bit weird to be the one with a long stride length! That hasn't happened to me in, well, ever!) The cool part was that he chose to come walk and talk with me instead of continuing the LOTR ongoing game they play. I guess I haven't crossed over into totally uncool authority person yet...

who's got the Morton's salt?

So as SJ alluded earlier, today's weather had you wishing you had a boat nearby... just in case. It rained like you only read about, and no one 'round here was heard sayin' "... God willin' and the creek don't rise..." We get flooding every spring (and that winter storm a few years back that flooded Canton-- that was a real scary spring!) so this isn't (yet) a 100 year flood or anything, but it's as high as we've ever seen the water. Dave planted a new flower down by the banks as it likes 'wet feet', but we're hoping it's still there, as it was completely submerged this afternoon. Nature has a way of working itself out though, given enough time. I wonder if we're patient enough to wait her out?

another one from SJ, through Beth

43% Geek
43%
I'm not geeky enough to get this to show up well, but it's 43% geek. Respectable, but I'll guarantee my friends are all higher than me. Just like our Miller's scores...

(Sorry, flashback there to my insecure past. Moving on!)

Created by OnePlusYou

who knew

Which Famous Artist Are You?

It's a tie!

	You are part Ansel Adams. Your artistic tool of choice is the camera, but you've got lots of other skills as well. Spoiled when you were young, you grew up to be a loving person and you have a deep affinity for nature and all things black and white.
	You are part Paul McCartney. The most popular and succesful musician in pop music history, you have never lost your passion. Music is how you live and your great productivity over the years shows that. You're known for your kindness and affability, but you're still a rebel when it counts.

upside: no crowds

downside: lots of rain

We headed on a Family Field Trip to Reid State Park on Sunday. The hope was it would clear off by the time we arrived... it actually moved in the opposite direction. No worries though-- like good Boy Scouts, Mumma's always have extra stuff on hand. We each loaded up with an umbrella (ella, ella) and walked on the rocks for a bit. It was coming down hard enough that we ended up making sandwiches in the van too. Oh well. We drove around Georgetown a bit more, and then stopped for Blizzards, which, unsurprisingly, we also ate in the car. We stumbled upon a local vendor selling fresh fish at amazing prices, so we came home with 2 lbs haddock, 4 ear corn, and a couple zucchini for dinner. Add in fresh beans from WB's garden, and it was a good day.

passing it on

Today WB and I were talking about finding new music. He has always sought out new stuff-- I don’t even know where he found it all, but he did. He thinks that part of his life is now over, and he is only listening to Too Much Joy from now on. I reminded him that he has remained in the parked car dancing away to the new Old 97’s song, and that was not the act of a fuddy-duddy. Perhaps his lack of seeking is due more to brain cells trying to figure out physics problems than to old age.

Flash forward to later in the afternoon, when he was in his classroom working on said learning and I went to help a friend retrieve her car from the shop. “Oh, you have to listen to this song!” Hey Ma is the soundtrack to our summer of 2008. All four of us listen and hum it’s choruses all day. james rocks. But not many people know that. So I played it for her, and she was tapping along between the first and second choruses. “Good job finding me a good new band I had never heard of!” Perhaps, as with all things in life, we are about to switch from finders of new music to transfer-ers of music that is old to us but new to others.

informal invite

This was sent by email to friends far and away... but it seemed quicker to hit all our RVBers this way. Hope you can come!

In honor of Dave's 40th birthday last spring, we're throwing a party August 16. Come just Saturday night or come for the weekend, camp in the back yard if you'd like... but we hope you can come. Bring something to share or just yourselves. There may be a band, but there will definitely be guitars by the campfire. Who knows how many kids will be running around... but no matter, it should be a good time for all.

Please let us know if you think you can make it!

preview

So we're enjoying (another!) night without the kids in the house. They have spent a lot of time with friends this summer, and a fair amount of it away from here. They're not to the point where they're trying to leave nightly (I remember being there, and it was not fun for either me or my parents: they seemed to think I should stay home some. I did not see the logic in that argument.) but I'm sure this summer is foreshadowing summers to come. The good news? We're having more date nights than I think we've ever had.

Like tonight. We decided to get a couple of lobsters and cook them on the fire. Lobsters were cheaper per pound than haddock, and we've sort of been hankering them for a few weeks, so... why not splurge? They were soft shell, and quite yummy. We sat outside in t-shirts, squirting ourselves with lobster water. Romantic? Heck no. Comforting? I postulate that you really can't enjoy a lobster unless you're totally comfortable with those indulging with you. WB commented that we'll do ok when the kids are gone... but we're in no rush for that to happen. Date nights are great when you know the munchkins will be home tomorrow :)

where does it take you?

We had to get some Coppertone spray on sunscreen this summer-- turns out I am immune to Banana Boat brand! (It is not cool to get a sunburn after spending 20 minutes dutifully applying sunscreen!!) Anyhow, every time I spray it I am vaulted back in time to the summers of my youth. It's not so much the smell of swimming lessons, because we always froze out butts off at like 8 AM in the Saco River, so mom didn't bother to lube us all up before the sun was even out. We did go to the ocean a lot, and there were a few summers we'd join my grandparents at the St. Lawrence River in upstate NY. I guess we must have only used Coppertone, because that's where I go when I put it on. Girly agrees. Her memories will probably include swimming lessons, since they get to go at 1:00, and trips to the Cape. I love family traditions :)

your friendly neighborhood tv reviews

Tonight Weather Boy and I are stuck to our new(ish) couch glued to our new television. (The couch died about 2 years ago and WB finally put his foot down in March, and the TV died as Wimbledon was starting. I've been watching the Fortnight since about 1980. I consoled myself with both purchases by doing our part to hold off the impending recession.) Anyhow, the summer season starts this week, and that means new The Closer, Saving Grace, and Project Runway.

Saving Grace (Mondays at 10 on TNT) is perhaps the best written, acted, and directed television show on today. Granted, I haven't watched them all, but this one is amazing. Yes, it's dark. It certainly belongs as a 10:00 show, and probably should air at 11. It's not pretty, and there are not always happy endings. But the characters are real. Flawed, but oh so real. If you can handle the thought of an angel who chews tobacco and a hard living police detective trying to live down the demons of molestation by her priest, then you owe it to yourself to check out this show.

If you can't handle Grace, you can definitely handle The Closer (Mondays at 9 on TNT). It's closer to Law and Order in it's premise, but better than the current incarnations. It'll make you laugh out loud, even as they're chasing an arsonist around LA.

Project Runway (Wednesdays at 9 on Bravo) is just plain fun. We've watched from the beginning. It's way better than Survivor or any of those other reality shows. And if you don't want to commit to every Wed, fear not: there is sure to be a marathon weekend sometime later this year.

satisfying, indeed!

I'll update with a pic tomorrow after it's all gone, but Day 1 of yard sale was today. Some of the stuff I thought would fly out is still here and some of the stuff Weather Boy was figuring out how to get to the dump sold!! Yard sales are a great way to live the "One man's trash is another man's treasure" adage. It is oft quoted for a reason, no?

All in all, I'm very pleased. I have a plan for much of what's left if it doesn't move out this weekend. Today I moved the returnables to their new corner of the shed (near the door for easy removal) and "installed" my new recycling center. I do so love a good re-organization!

When I started this project 2 weeks ago, this wall was burried. Now, it's the home of my recycling. The door opens all the way... there's light in there... yes, truly pleasing. And I still have over a month of summer fun left to go! Life is good!

now THIS is summer!

Swimming lessons started today, and we actually felt like sitting on the beach, taking a random dip as kids swam. Dinner on the fire, margarita going (Katie-- wish you were here!), looking at another one just like it tomorrow.

Yes, the livin' is very easy!

Hey Baby!

It's the Fourth of July!

Since I was a teenager, holidays have had a soundtrack. Sometimes the songs are obvious (U2s New Years Day the most so), sometimes events referred to in lyrics (again with the U2 and Pride on MLK day). When I met Weather Boy, my music collection doubled. He was inspired to make an actual holiday soundtrack starting with Cracker's Happy Birthday to Me, but it never got finished. I don't think there is a better Independence Day song for me than X's 4th of July. I think it's a cover, but one of those covers that is better than the original. It rocks. It's not about "America is great!" but that even in some pretty sad circumstances, there's still some hope. That's the anthem for me.*

So dry your tears and baby walk outside, it's the 4th of July!

*(Not that I'm depressed, hopeless, or wanting out of my life. I just get sick of all the America the Beautifuls out there.)

I am... playing along

I am...
committed to being the best wife, mom, and friend I can be.
I want...
too much. I'm trying to want less, but there's too much America in me.
I have...
everything I need to be happy.
I wish...
world peace wasn't just a theory
I hate...
intentional cruelty
I fear...
being alone. house fires, too
I hear...
the washing machine and the lawn mower
I search...
poorly
I wonder...
Who will the kids fall in love with? How will global warming change their lives? Will I ever have grandchildren?
I regret...
not going to San Fransisco with my uncle when I was younger.
I love...
my family and friends, my students.... and food and pictures
I ache...
too regularly these days!
I always...
try to avoid saying always
I usually...
laugh a lot during the day.
I am not...
mean
I dance...
with Patty during the school year, but also whenever the urge hits me :)
I sing...
along with every song on the radio, even if I hate it. I can't help it.
I never...
want to live anywhere else, although I may someday when I'm old and can't take the cold.
I rarely...
drink enough water all day. I need to get better at that.
I cry...
when happy, sad, mad, proud, blessed
I am not always...
neat. I live a cluttered life.
I lose...
very little. I'm the one who usually knows where things are.
I'm confused...
by science classes. Ironic, huh?
I miss...
my grandmother
I need...
touch
I should...
walk more

BFFs

They're having a sleep over tonight. They enjoyed the strawberry pie I made this week (although I think I need Beth's recipe, since this was more like jam on top of graham cracker crust) and now are watching Sydney White (and the Seven Dorks). This is the movie Girly and Lea watched at the Ramada when they stayed there for their birthday celebration, and Lea just gave it to Girly for her summer birthday present. (She's a good gift giver, that one!) They're more like cousins than BFFs, but no matter what you call them, their bonds are pretty darned amazing.

satisfaction

Many of you loyal readers will not appreciate the magnitude of my joy upon the completion of Phase One of this project, but let me try to explain. I have been wanting to clean out our shed for at least the last 3 summers. Now, our shed is Where Things Go to Die. Since my recycling is a sickness, I could never throw out the kids old toys, or clothes, or broken gas grills, or plastic seed pots, or just about anything else that someone, someday, might find a use for, if they tried really hard. So I'd put it in a bag in the shed. Our shed is fairly large-- maybe the size of Mike and Katie's garage-- so I had plenty of space to put a second bag on top of the first. Multiply exponentially, and you get a sense of the job I just tackled.. Or to put in a way that might evoke more of a picture: I opened boxes today that have not been touched since we moved in. Seven years ago. Before we were sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. Yea. A long bleepin' time ago.


Weather Boy kindly offered to do the first dump run today so I could keep working. It looked similar to this pile, which is going to be a huge pain to deal with since it is raining, again.... but whatever. I'm on a mission. I will succeed.

The back of the van is filled to the max with boxes of clothes to donate. I don't have the energy to yard sale that-- I'd have to sort them by gender, size, quality, and I need to conserve my energy for the rest of the stuff that needs to go. And it is all going, one way or another.


The bright pink door that you see to the right has not opened fully in years. Today, I can not only open it but I can also walk behind it! There is still a fair amount of stuff to put out there for the masses to come and pick through (which will probably be July 11&12, if you're interested). Whatever is left at the end will be taken to the Free Store, or some other similar location. I figure every thing that someone else takes away is less for me to haul off.


I am celebrating with a Lemon Drop Martini (Ina Garten recipe). Satisfied, indeed!