Holy cow, wasn’t it just Christmas? How can it be June already? Time really is flying by…

I had a post nearly ready to go…then I realized that I really didn’t like it.  Something about it seemed “off” and to be blunt…well…boring.  I can’t stand the thought of putting up a boring post.  (Ok, I may have put a boring thing or two up in my time, but if so…well, don’t tell me about it. That would simply break my heart and we can’t have that now, could we?)

Anyways, I realized that I have had too many days where I haven’t posted because I couldn’t come up with something to say or didn’t feel like it or whatever.  So…I followed an email that led me to the newest NaBloPoMo.  (National Blog Posting Month) This originally started out as a commitment to blog every day in the month of November.  Then a few years ago it was changed to add every month of the year. Only they all had themes, which I really didn’t care for.  (not to mention the pressure of having to post every day!)

The month of June has a theme of Now.  Hello? Everything I write about is in the now, I can do that! So…I kinda sorta signed up for the June NaBloPoMo.  So check back every day as I’ll be posting. 

Even if it is only a picture of Sam…

Shortly after my youngest daughter Mimi was born, my mom mentioned that she was glad I had two girls.  She had always felt bad that I didn’t grow up with a sister.  Aghast, I asked her what she meant by that, after all, I had a perfectly good brother.  Mom told me that it was something she couldn’t explain and suggested that I just watch them interact. 

So…for years I’ve been watching them interact.  I guess I can see where having a sister might come in handy.  Borrowing your brother’s shirt or smelly gym shoes doesn’t have the same appeal as begging to wear that really cute top or adorable pair of new flats.  And a brother isn’t much fun to watch chick flicks with or giggle when a “hawt guy” walks by. (but isn’t that what girlfriends are for?) As for tea parties…well…he’d always show up, but he never did understand the fine ritual of holding out your pinky as you slowly sipped your tea and tossed the fluffy pink boa around your neck. Of course, he always managed to escape as soon as the treats were gone.  It was all about the food for him. Yes, I can see where having a sister would come in handy.

I had to really think about what good a brother was.  The whole time we were growing up, he was nothing but a pest.  My baby brother wanted to do everything I did, and always wanted to get into my private stuff.  All I wanted to do was anything without him.  When I did deign to spend time with him though, we always had fun. 

Our kind of fun was a bit different than the fun I watch my daughters have.  We loved to play outside in what we called “The Dirt Place.” It was along the side of our yard and was just dirt.  We would build towns and have wars and weddings (my influence). Sometimes we would turn it into a kitchen and bake the most extraordinary feasts consisting of dirt, sticks and rocks. When we tired of that, we would wander off to explore the canyons across the street from our house. We could spend hours wandering around, creating hideouts and just enjoying the time we spent together. 

Then there was the game we made up. I think it was called Dodge Ball, but certainly not the one you are probably thinking.  I would position myself at one end of the yard while my brother would gather up ammunition. Then he would start throwing things at me…balls, sticks, rocks…anything that could be tossed through the air.  My job was to dodge back and forth trying not to get hit. Then we would switch sides so he could have the ammunition again. (Hmmm…now that I think about it, what a horrible game! I’m not sure why we were allowed to play it.)

My baby brother and I live on opposite coasts now. It’s been a few years since we’ve actually seen each other.  We keep in touch by phone, but not nearly as much as we should. It’s easy to get caught up in everyday life and forget about the important things in life. 

Today, I’m thinking of my Baby Brother a lot.  In fact, one of his favorite songs (no, not Blinded by the Light or Born Free) has been running through my head.  It goes like this:

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

You look like a monkey

…and you smell like one too!

Happy Birthday Baby Brother, I love you bunches! (of bananas!)

I’ve been sitting in my living room listening to the quiet. These quiet times are are rare and are something I truly treasure.  They are a balm to my soul. 

I live in a noisy home.  It seems as though there is always something going on.  The music my entire family loves to listen to to blasts through every room.  It can be anything from Zeppelin to Sinatra to the latest pop sensation…it’s always loud. The dogs are barking, the cats cry to be fed and people…just talk.  It’s just normal life, I’m sure it is much the same in most households. 

Yet, something inside of me craves peace and quiet. 

As I sit in the quiet morning hour, breathing in the heavenly sent of my freshly brewed coffee and savoring it’s bitter taste,  I realize that it’s not entirely quiet.  I listen to the gentle tapping of the rain falling on my roof. It’s a sound I never paid much attention to, but I’ve come to love since we’ve moved to Seattle. I can feel the vibrations of one of our cats as she purrs on my lap. My sweet Sam sits at my feet, gently snoring, his ears twitching every time I move. 

I take a moment to gaze out the window beside me, pleased with my blooming garden. My herbs, the lavender, basil and thyme are thriving.  The happy faced pansies, hot pink germaniums and wild roses are drinking in the falling rain. It amazes me that, despite my brown thumb, they are all flourishing. 

I hear someone stirring in one of the bedrooms. My heart sinks as I realize that it’s time for the day to begin.  Then I realize that after my few moments of quiet solitude, I’m ready to face it, and all the racket that comes with it. 

All is well in my world…

On Saturday I received a message from Peggy letting me know that her firewall was warning her of a threat on my website.  I (and by “I”, I mean my in-house tech support, Shaun) immediately looked into it and found that I had some nasty malware taking over the site.  In other words, I’d been hacked!

Shaun informed me that I knew more about web stuff then I did, gave me a few starting points and sent me on my way to figure it out.  (so much for in-house tech support!) Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any time, you’ll know that I have a strong aversion to anything techie.  Well, not so much an aversion as a complete lack of understanding.  My brain simply doesn’t want to think like that and slowly starts to spin in circles if I try to make it. 

Thankfully, the wonderfully brilliant  Edie stepped in to offer her assistance.  Despite being on the middle of her nationwide tour/vacation, when Edie discovered I had a virus she dug right in and started sprouting highly technical terms such as “last modified date on the php files”,  “I’ll try to FTP in” and  “history thingie.”

Between Edie and the fine folks at GoDaddy, I now have a clean bill of health.  Whew, I’m so glad I’ve got computer gurus looking after me!

Now, just look at my beautiful KT!

(Where did that silly term come from anyway???)

I haven’t forgotten about you, Dear Readers.  I’ve just haven’t been in a writing frame of mind. Every spare thought has been going to this gown I’m making for KT.  The gown that fully embraces Murphy’s Law.  Ugh. 

I’m crossing my fingers that it will be completed by the time KT gets done from school, ready for one last (completely unnecessary) fitting. Of course, I’ve been saying that for the last week or so.

Anyways, I very scientifically asked my mom to pick a number between one and nine for the drawing and she chose ten.  (Can you see why I’m the way I am?) I rounded it to nine which happens to be Brandt!.

Send me your address and I’ll get the book sent out to you…as soon I get this prom dress done!

Our puppy Sam has officially reached the really, really naughty stage.  He’s finally figured out that there are just some things that he’s not allowed to do…and he doesn’t care.  Well, he does care, but only if he gets caught. 

Yesterday we found him running around with an onion. I had no idea where he got that onion, but he had decided it was his and he wasn’t letting it out of his sight.  If we came near him, he’d dash off in the other direction with his onion. I’m not sure if he thought that he had scored with an exotic new food or if he thought it was just a funny tasting ball. 

I managed to lure him over to me and traded him the onion for a Cheerio.  (Have I mentioned how brilliant he is?) Amazingly, there wasn’t a single bite mark on that onion.  I may have put it back in the pantry. 

This morning, Mimi came around the corner just in time to see Sam stand up on him hind legs and snag her breakfast that was waiting for her on the kitchen counter.  She tore after him in an effort to save her bagel.  When she managed to capture him, only half of her meal was left.  For some reason, she no longer wanted to eat that half. 

We do work with him, trying to teach him right from wrong and train him correctly.  He can sit, lay down, stay (kinda), come (when he feels like it), and stay off (if you happen to be standing there) I’m hoping this naughtiness is just some sort of stage like the Terrible Twos.

Have I mentioned that he graduated from Puppy School last week? 

Sam with KT

Shortly after I added “review a book” to my list of 46 Things (No, I haven’t posted it yet, it’s still at 45 Things, maybe I’m in denial?) I received an email asking me if I would be interested in reviewing a book.  To be honest, I had to think about it for a moment.  You see, this came just when both of my girls were struggling with big book reports and I so didn’t want to go down that route.  I was thinking more along the lines of some blurb on our county library web site.  So, I asked a few questions such as, did I have to say I liked it? Or did it have to be in five paragraph essay format…or even formal? Fortunately, I was told that all I had to do was be honest and fair.  I knew I could do that, so I accepted.

I received “The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder” by Rebecca Wells in the mail a couple weeks ago.  I meant to start reading it right away so that I could savor it, but it happened that I was busy or just too tired and I just kept putting it off.   Lucky for me, this is one of those rare books that I just couldn’t put down once I started it. 

is

This is the official blurb:

“In the small river town of La Luna, Louisiana, Calla Lily Ponder bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood – until it is tragically cut short. From her mother, Calla learns compassion and healing through the humble womanly art of “fixing hair.” On the banks of the La Luna River, she discovers a sweet, succulent first love that is as enticing as the music, food, and dancing of her Louisiana home. When heartbreak hits, Calla leaves the familiarity of her hometown and heads downriver to the untamed city of New Orleans, where her destiny further unfolds.”

What this doesn’t tell you, is that on the surface, this novel is about Calla Lily Ponder who is a young girl that lives a magical life of love and beauty despite all the adversaries she must overcome. It’s really a story of love, loss and everlasting friendship. It even touches on issues of racism, alcoholism and homosexuality in ways to subtly make you think. 

Rebecca Wells did a beautiful job of making me feel as though I were in the sweltering heat of the deep South with Calla Lily for most of her life.  My girls will attest to the fact that I felt everything Calla felt. (They were a bit concerned when they walked into the room to find tears streaming down my face…and then to hear me laughing out loud a little while later.) Even though I was told I didn’t have to say I liked it, I did. Really.

Because I loved this book so much, I’m going to give it away! Just leave a comment (maybe you can tell me about a book you loved?) and I will do a random drawing and send it off next week.  

If you’d like to know more about Rebecca Wells you can listen to a podcast from when Book Club Girl interviewed Rebecca Wells on Wednesday, May 5th. Or catch her on youtube or even find out about her love of bookclubs (of which I’d really like to find one!)

I was mindlessly drying my hair, when to my utter amazement, my hair dryer exploded in my hand. Well, technically, it didn’t explode…it merely started crackling and shooting eight inch flames from the back of it. My immediate reaction was to drop it in the sink (which fortunately happened to be empty) and watch its self-destruction before it occurred to me to yank the plug out from the wall socket.

Not being mechanically inclined, I was clueless as to what had happened to my hair dryer. One thing was clear though….[Read More Here]

I haven’t been doing a very good job keeping up to date on all the college stuff going on in our house.  I may have mentioned a couple things, like high school senior stuff, college choices, and those pesky essays that needed to be written.  Apparently, I never got around to writing about how a certain someone would stalk our poor mailman to see if an acceptance letter had come yet.  I didn’t talk about how we tried our best to get that certain someone to stay close to home and go to UW when they accepted her almost immediately.  Then of course, I also neglected to mention about the agonizing decisions of trying to decide just which school she really was going to go to. 

A couple weekends ago, KT and one of her friends made the four and a half hour road trip to Walla Walla in Eastern Washington to make sure Whitman was the one they really wanted.  (Just imagine her poor mother at home biting her fingernails hoping that nothing went wrong on this long, overnight road trip that her first born was taking all by herself…well, except for her friend)  KT decided that she definitely wanted to go to Whitman.  As good as it looked on paper, it was even better in real life. (We had resigned ourselves to the fact that she wouldn’t be going to UW…at least she’s not going to Maine.)

In typical KT fashion, she wanted to start getting ready for her grand college adventure right away.  In fact, she had started a list of things she needed to bring before she had even left the Whitman campus.   We tried really hard not to laugh, but her long list contained some really…er…odd items.  Among other things, she needed to bring was her princess blanket so that she could have picnics on the lawn a basket for her bike and of course, some overalls. Overalls?

Apparently everyone that KT saw working in the organic garden…something she really wants to do…was wearing a pair of overalls.  It’s probably not required, but some people think it looks really cool.  So with a bit of hunting around, we managed to find two pairs in different lengths.  Mimi, who is definitely not one of those people that think overalls are really cool, is helping by modeling one of the pairs.  I’m not sure, but I think KT bribed her to wear them. 

Enough of the college stuff…we’ve got to finish high school first.  And somehow, I’ve got to turn this glimmering pile of green

into the perfect elegant gown for Prom. 

No pressure or anything…