Book List Challenge

A few days ago, our blogger friend Nicole posted her list of personal book likings and dislikings. She took her cue from Lynn over at Violins and Starships, which should win best blog name on the interwebs. Anyway, reading books is something I love to do. I also love to make art out of them, but that’s for another blog.

1. Your favorite book: Soooooo difficult, but I really can’t pick just one.

2. Your least favorite book: In the last decade, that would be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to throw it away by the end of the second chapter.

3. A book that completely surprised you (bad or good): Hm…. I would have to say I didn’t expect to like The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I read it since Eldest was assigned the book for school, and found it well-written, even for adults.

4. A book that reminds you of home: Postal de Tierra Adentro (Postcard from the Inner Land), by C. O. Padilla. Literally, a book about my hometown.

5. A non-fiction book that you actually enjoyed: The Monuments Men, by Robert Edsel.

6. A book that makes you cry: A Knight in Shining Armor, by Jude Deveraux. Yes, it’s a romance novel. But I found the concept of souls meeting again, instead of bodies, to be enchanting.

7. A book that’s hard to read: Ulysses, by James Joyce. GAH!!

8. An unpopular book you believe should be a bestseller: I don’t really know of any.

9. A book you’ve read more than once: All of them, except Pet Sematary.

10. The first novel you remember reading: The Secret of the Old Clock, by Carolyn Keene. Yes, Nancy Drew was my portal into the world of reading.

*Pokes Blog*

Yes, blog is still here. I took a long weekend off from blogging anywhere. I was a bit rundown, and needed to recharge. There was also the question of cleaning house which had been ignored needed to be addressed. I also managed to address some book folding and some shopping.

Wedding gifts do not purchase themselves. Ask any woman.

Today is April Fools’ Day, and I find myself wondering why we designate only one day for that. In my opinion, designating a month for it is still not long enough. On the other hand, at least I don’t live in France and have to deal with someone trying to adhere a fish to my back. There is always a silver lining. In my case, the silver lining is usually aluminium. Which is fine, because it’s great for cooking.

There’s a lot of rambling in my head today.

Actually, there’s a lot of rambling in my head every day. The sad part is, the absence or presence of booze doesn’t have anything to do with it. So I have that going for me, right? RIGHT?? Don’t answer. I don’t think my ego can take it. At least not until I’ve had my third cup of coffee. Which is probably the reason I ramble so much. Viscous circles, you know.

(I interrupt this not-so-regularly scheduled post while I take Son to get braces. Highlight of day: accomplished!)

So today finds me being a bit domestic, making braised chicken a la Provence, baking bread, organizing stuff to donate, and listening to Vivaldi, at least until Little One comes home and turns on Futurama, or some gameshow. All I know is she thinks she is master of the remote. So with that, I finish rambling and go off to finish making dinner while pretending the glass of water is a glass of wine.

I’m not just good at rambling. I’m good at dreaming, too 😀

Better Late Than Next Week Never List

My niece is getting married in May, and my nephew (her brother) will be getting married in October. Between joining the military, graduations from college, weddings, and family reunions, this year will be a banner year for the family. That also means attending wedding showers, graduation parties, bridal showers, but it does NOT mean attending bachelorette parties. I have a limit. I’m sure it will be fun. For them. It’s just not my thing.

Now, had it been a quilting bee, heck yeah!

Moving on, it got me to thinking about my wedding and the gifts I received. I was very lucky in that we received a lot of kitchen and bath stuff. But we did get some rather odd gifts that never even saw the light of day.

Wedding Gifts to Avoid

#5– Character appliances

We received a Mickey Mouse™ waffle iron as a wedding gift. It stayed in the box until I sold it in a garage sale. Twelve years later.

#4– Lawn equipment

Most times the first home is an apartment. And there is only so much space for a weed whacker.

#3– Artwork

Everyone’s tastes are different, and newlyweds will have enough work finding common ground without having to add Wharhol soup cans to it.

#2– Relationship books

No. Just no.

#1– Anything personalized

As wonderful as the thought may be, you are giving a gift that will be limited in use. A framed item is nice, but where would the personalized throw and the personalized candleholder end up?

I hope this helps some of y’all as we head into summer wedding season. If all else fails, cash is always a welcome gift.

So I’ve been told. Countless of times 😉

Thursday Sithy

I’m a bit swamped today with laundry and groceries and what-not, so I don’t have much to write about. Just one of those days when everything piles up and you feel like you are in the movie Open Water, only with stain remover and toilet brush instead of sharks.

It sounds better in my head. Anyway I will try to have a Thursday Never List up tomorrow. I realize it will be Friday, but it may still be a Thursday on some planet, so I have that going for me.

Anyway, here’s a Sithy!

It sure is dangerous to go Solo. That’s why I’m Sith 😉

Have a great afternoon!!

Two For Twenty

Today is a very special day. Hubby and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Time has been kind to us. I would love to think I still look the same as I did waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1985 when we met, but I am realistic enough to know the gray came with the children. He still looks pretty much the same as he did back then. Probably has a portrait hidden away somewhere. All I know is he looks distinguished, and I look gray and wrinkly.

But no matter. I earned those wrinkles from all the laughter he has given me. I earned the gray from all the worry from which he tried so hard to shield me. Sure, the kids had a hand in it, but they weren’t the ones in the line of fire. Unless I was the one doing the firing. Anyway, for twenty years we have been supporting each other, and though it hasn’t always been a 50-50 proposition, the rewards have been beyond anything I could have imagined. Sometimes smooth, and sometimes rocky, nevertheless it has been wonderful.

And I am so grateful for it.

Here’s to forty more, at least. But in reality we are shooting for at least 47, because we want to be around when Halley’s Comet shows up again. That may be a long shot, but we have the Solar Eclipse in 2017 to go see for our 23rd anniversary, so we have that going for us.

What can I say? We are geeks and proud of it 😀

When Worlds Collide

I love being a geek. I cannot express the joy I get when science fiction characters are assimilated into a smash-up of epic proportions.

Today is the birthday of one of Science Fiction’s most revered icons, none other than the original, and best evah, Captain Kirk.

WILLIAM SHATNER!!!

I saw that photo* on the social-site-with-faces and SQUEEE’d!! How epic is it to find the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise being “escorted” by Stormtroopers?? That made my whole week. Happiest of days to Captain T.J. Crane!! (See what I did there??)

Hope y’all have a long and prosperous weekend 😉

*Special hat tip to my friend, Mr. Fixit 😀

Short Musings

Well, today started off a bit on the off side. The repairman was unable to come and finish the walls, so I am in the uncomfortable position of having to wait a bit longer to do my laundry, since the washer is positioned at an angle and difficult to use. Anyway, I got on to write a post today, but found that decided to change the emoticons we use in our blogs. And of course, some of the emoticons are “secret”, so I had to play all afternoon trying to figure them out.

It was a sacrifice I was willing to make. But never again.

Look, I am a n00b when it comes to computers. I am no nor am I a genius. You know the whole “give a monkey a typewriter” thing? Well, that’s me, only not as cute. Don’t get me wrong. I ❤ writing, even writing just stuff that’s fluffy as a 🐻 is fun for me. But if pressure is involved, like in NaNoWriMo, forget it. You might as well pour me a and leave me alone, because I would never come close to making a dent. Writing under pressure just doesn’t appeal to me. Writing nonsensical musings on a whim is totally different, and should always be celebrated. Of course, there are times when you come up with a clever 💡 and you have to run with it. Those times are few and far between for me, though.

Anyway, the ⭐ s are aligning for me, so I have to get going. It’s Friday, and still Lent, so I’m making rainbow trout for dinner. Easter seems like a long way off to me.

I wish I could have a 🌯 and wash it down with a 🍸 .

😥

Thursday Never List

There is a time to every purpose under Heaven, right?

Take washing the car, for example. After misty, drizzly days, you are itching to wash the accumulated dirt and seeds and what-not that feels glued to the exterior. And the day after you wash your vehicle, it rains. That evul Murphy and his Laws strikes again. Sometimes plans don’t jive with Fate, and the efforts seem wasted. I prefer to think of it as an opportunity to learn.

And I tend to learn a lot. Over and over again, it seems.

Things Never To Do Out of Order

#5– Never wash your car if there is rain in the forecast

As alluded to before, even if you live in the desert, just learn to be patient and wait for endless sunny days.

#4– Never bathe your dog before taking him to the dog park

Hilarity will ensue after he discovers new scents into which to revel.

#3– Never try new cosmetics the day of an event

Redness and splotchy look great in commercials, but not in real life.

#2– Never take the newly-opened exit ramp

People are creatures of habit, and as such will STILL act like the ramp isn’t there for days afterwards.

#1– Never do your nails right before cleaning anything

Or gardening, or sewing, or laundering, or fill-in-the-blank. This is my Achilles heel and forever will be so until such time as I have either a full-time housekeeper, gardener, and cook, or I give up on having pretty nails.

I’m pretty sure the latter will win out 😀

Last Day of Winter

Or so the calendar claims.

I think the calendar is yanking my chain, though. I’m still wearing sweaters and long sleeves and the heater kicks in every night. Usually by mid-March we have nice warm days, precursors to the scorchers we get for living five blocks from the Sun. My bluebonnets are coming up, the mountain laurel has bloomed, but I’m afraid the roses and the Barbados shrubs did not do well in the freezes we had. And you know what that means, right?

Every year I buy plants and flowers, and every year, they die. But for a few weeks they look SPECTACULAR in my yard, so at least I have that going for me.

So today I am off to go look for nice geraniums and roses and petunias. Hopefully they won’t cringe when they see me at the nursery. If they do, I shall spare them the agony of dying in my yard.

It’s the least I can do 😀

Éirinn go Brách, Y’all!!

Today we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which means wearing of the green, drinking green beer, and many parades celebrating Irish ancestry. I am not Irish, but know many who descend from Eyre, and they will be the first to tell me I probably misspelled that title. But by tonight, they will be the first to not care. Oh, would that I be able to imbibe today, but alas, I shall have to make do with just drinking limeade from my Lolita wineglass.

But as consolation I will be wearing the Sithiest t-shirt ever marketed for St. Paddy’s Day!!

AND I’m making soda bread!! Weirdly, I am making Chicken Paprikas for dinner, because it is the only orange dish I can think of to make, and will set off nicely with the greens. I would have made some Guinness™ braised beef, but I gave that up as well. Yes, I cried when I realized I couldn’t even cook with alcohol.

Easter can NOT come soon enough. Trust me 😀