Near and Far

A while back, my friend Roamy suggested places we’ve been as a topic for the blog, and it got me to thinking. It’s tough to beat being raised in a tropical island, you know. This is the river in back of my elementary school:

The schoolrooms were a converted cockfighting arena (true story), but the view was totally worth it! Growing up in Puerto Rico, I had the chance to see beaches, desert, rainforest, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, all in the span of a day. It was wonderful.

Now that I am an Army wife, I get to see other places. Stationed in Europe, we got to see Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Crete, France, Austria, and Italy. Personally, I had no desire to see Holland or Belgium. But I did wish to see Spain, and where my relatives came from. Still, I got to see a lot, and if I had to pick my favorite of all, I would have to say Poland.

It was like a page from a fairytale. And in that fairytale, the bad guys had been vanquished. I hope I get the chance to go back, and drink some Żubrówka, eat pierogies, and hear wonderful stories about Boleslawiec.

And what places would y’all like to visit?

One More Week

That’s all that is left of Summer Vacation. The kids have been diligently getting their stuff ready for school, as well as doing their IB assignments, practicing their instruments, and in general, driving me up the wall with their last-minute demands for supplies/ books/ haircuts/ shoes/ fill-in-the-blank.

In the middle of this chaos, lays a island of calm, for I know once they go back to school, I am no longer a hostage to Disney, nor am I a taxidriver to malls unknown, nor am I the mediator for every single quibble.

I shall be back to my normal self. “Normal” is a relative term, I know, but in this case, totally applicable.

Back to normal!

So, for now I will try to imagine the bliss that is the first day of school, as I run around town getting last minute stuff accomplished.

Enjoy your coffee, my friends 😉

Ah, Sunday…

You can be such a good friend to me.

But I know you….you are just lulling me into a sense of security, ready to yank that from under me with your pal, the dreaded nemesis, Monday. You sweet-talk me into “taking in easy” and “relaxing”, only to slap me back into reality when Monday strikes without warning.

But I can’t help it…I come back and fall under your spell every week, thinking it will be different this time. This time I will be strong, and resist the siren call.

Sigh….who am I kidding?

Maybe I should wear a helmet 🙂

This is Only a Test

Well, it’s only a little quiz, really. And completely harmless and fun.You can’t fail, no one is here to grade you, and I was told there would be no math.

It’s the World’s Smallest Political Quiz.

Here are my results for 2011:

The last time I took this little quiz, it was 2007, and I was right above the letter “R” in “Right”. Quite a difference, n’est pas??

The times, they are a’changin’ 😉

Creatively borrowed from iOWT

500th Comment!!!

And the honor goes to…

NOMSTRESS!!

She is a marvelous blogette who writes about food, and occasionally beer and her schizoid cats. And with entries like polygamy in Texas, she also has a great wit 😉

Things That Make You Go “Hmmm…”

Well, as y’all have heard, Borders Bookstores are going out of business. This is a bit hard for me, because I enjoyed the convenience of driving ten minutes to the store, instead of ordering from Amazon and waiting a few days or weeks for your order to get to you. There are Barnes & Noble around the area, but 1) the traffic is prohibitive at two locations, and 2) the drive is long to the third. But I adapt well to changing situations.

One thing I had wanted was a Lego set they were selling at the local Borders. Yes, for me, not for one of my kids. STOP JUDGING ME!!! Anyway, they had several sets from the Architecture Series, one of which I want like burning: Fallingwater, by Frank Lloyd Wright.

But they carried it for $124.95, and the Lego website carried it for $99.99, when they had it in stock, so I decided to wait, because I may want it like burning, but I can’t justify $125 for building blocks. And then today I was at Barnes & Noble, and saw this:

THAT is the price for Fallingwater at B&N!! The price difference is stark. I guess now we know why Borders is going out of business. Their concept of “sale pricing” left a lot to be desired.

UPDATE:

A friend just called and told me stuff at Borders is now 20-40% off. I may be able to score this set after all 😀

Calm Before the Storm

As if! We were expecting this monster of a rainstorm around here, thanks to Tropical Storm Don, and of course, it never came to pass. Which means I will have to scrub the fence outside from last weekend’s debacle birthday bash. And did I mention there is still paint on the bath walls that needs to be scraped off? Yeah, my day is shaping up to be a storm of cleaning fumes.

But before that storm hits, I am going to enjoy the calm, and sip my coffee, and maybe do a little shopping from the comfort of my chair. I do have a talent for that, you know. And sometimes I do find the neatest stuff!

Can you imagine the PTA’s face when I show up wearing this?? Totally worth it!!!

Ok, time to get moving here. Hope y’all enjoy your Saturday!!

No Caption Necessary

A picture is worth a thousand words….

Proof that God loves Texas!!

Now, if only those clouds would bring rain… 😉

Photo courtesy of Mike Slay.

Canada Luv!

This morning I received a message from a friend, telling me of a young man from Canada who is coming to visit his family while he launches his American country music career. His name is Ryan Laird, which is just awesome in and of itself, he’s very talented, and hope y’all enjoy this song!

And his single, which is to die for:

Not bad, eh?

And back off, Taylor. I saw him first 😉

Fight for Your Right to Party

Ok, it wasn’t a “fight”, nor is it a “right”, but since it was her Sweet Sixteen, Eldest got to host a party. It was small, thank goodness, but still a lot of fun for them. Why? Because the theme of the party was PAINT.

This was the cake:

Those are NOT flowers. Eldest wouldn’t be caught dead with a cake that had flowers. Unless they were black roses, and I had to nix that. Those are paint “splotches” made from delicious buttercream frosting. We are not fond of fondant here at Casa de Aggie. The “16” is a cookie made in the form of a paint brush. The table was decorated with a canvas dropcloth, and we had set up paints, brushes and a water pail outside next to the large canvas dropcloth that was designated for their artistic talents. But as usual, the best laid plans…

Title of artwork: Aftermath

I told them specifically that they could also paint on their clothing only, provided they didn’t smear paint on hair. Well, that went unheeded. Not only were they fully covered in paint, they went out to the street and paraded for the cars driving by. An activity that facilitated drying of the paint. In their hair.

Did I mention the girls ALL had long hair? And some of the boys, as well?

And did I mention this was a dual sleepover? As in Son had two friends staying, and Eldest had two friends staying?

(Disclosure- I had chaperones)

Anyway, it took a couple of hours for the paint to be peeled, PEELED from hair, over which time the kids were taking turns washing it off. But all in all, the kids had a great time, and are wanting to plan another party, this time without the paint. Frankly, after the wanton sacrilege of my bathtub, I’m leery of having paint anywhere near the house:

THE HUMANITY!!!!

And that was only half of the paint that was peeled from Eldest’s hair. Yes, I cried.

All in all, the party was a huge success, and I was very impressed with her friends, all of whom behaved with respect and good manners, and were funny and sweet.

Next time, I think I will do permanent markers, instead 😉