... from Shelf AWARENESS, September 28, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 1838
Bookstore 'Has to Grab You, then Settle into a Comfortable Place'
"A good bookstore is a lot like the products it sells: It has to grab you, then settle into a comfortable place, all the while building upon itself, opening up new aspects and ideas with each chapter until you're ultimately hooked. It has to envelope you in a world you can get lost in and can't wait to get back to once you've left so you can find out what happens next."
--The Boise Weekly, from its description of the Rediscovered Bookshop, which was the readers' choice for Best Local Bookstore for the fifth straight year.
About Me
- Krys72599
- I'm happy, married, and looking forward to sharing my world with you! If you're interested, that is!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Blog Your Heart
1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.
2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.
3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)...
So here we go... Sorry if the first few sound like whining and complaining on my part... But I'm going to get a couple of things off MY chest and out of my heart...
-- I grew up thinking, believing my life would include children. I would be a mom, no matter what. Well, life works in mysterious ways and I fell in love with a man who didn't want more kids; he had two from a previous marriage. Thankfully, I now have two step-children. I may not have birthed them from my loins, but they are the children of my heart. And it hurts me that there is someone very important in my life who refuses to acknowledge that I am a mom, a mother, that I have kids even if I didn't give birth to them. This person does not acknowledge me on Mothers' Day, and it hurts. And it makes me mad. I can't understand how this person can totally ignore the fact that I HAVE two children, children who love me, children I helped raise, put through college, support now as adults. Would it really kill you to wish me a Happy Mothers' Day once a year?
-- We go to two churches, one at home, the parish which both my husband and I attended as young children, and another near our vacation home which we attend 1/2 the year, if not more; we're there almost every weekend. Lately I've been unhappy with the lake church. I'm very traditional, and I don't like changes to hymn lyrics to accommodate political correctness ("Let us walk with each other" instead of the original "Let me walk with my brother"). I don't like the new music they're using for the Alleluia before the Gospel. It sounds like a polka. Where's the accordian? And I don't need a tambourine keeping beat while we sing every song or prayer. It's not presented as a folk music Mass - get rid of that tambourine and stop playing carousel music in church!
-- Okay, let's admit that I don't like change much in any aspect of my life. I guess it all tracks back to loss of control. There's so little you can control in your life; why does something have to change all the time? What happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"???
-- I am the luckiest person in the world. No, I didn't win the PowerBall lottery - that would make all of YOU, my family and friends, very lucky! I'm lucky because I'm married to the best guy on this earth! Yea, yea, yea, I know you all think your husbands are the best, but, sorry! J is awesome! He has the biggest heart of any man I know. I have no doubt, not for one second of the day, that he loves me and cares about me. He loves his children totally and completely. He will do anything for anyone. My biggest regret about my marriage is that my Dad isn't here to be father-in-law to this man I married. That would have been a great relationship to witness - they knew each other superficially, so I draw comfort from the fact that my Dad at least met the man I married, even if it was years before we ever started dating. And I SO regret that I wasn't able to have a FIL/DIL relationship with my father-in-law, who died after hubby and I got back together but before we got engaged or married. I had THE BEST mother-in-law; I know my father-in-law would have been equally wonderful.
-- Speaking of my mother-in-law, I miss you, Mom!!!
-- I love my neighborhood. It's the very definition of "neighborhood" - we all know each other and watch out for each other... I know we're not meant to stay there forever; we're starting to think about relocating after retirement. We're going to be taking some weekend trips to scout out different states and neighborhoods - DE, MD, VA, FL... Mom is the dealbreaker, of course - she's either going to have to come with us, or we're not going anywhere for the next 25 years or so, 'cause I plan for her to be around for at least that much longer!!!
-- I want to retire. I want to take cooking classes, photography classes, I want to take my mom out to lunch, keep my house clean, do my laundry when it's not dark in my basement 'cause the only time we have to do chores like that is at night...
-- Speaking of the lottery... IF we were every lucky enough to win "the big one," our lives really wouldn't change much. I wouldn't move, or change houses. I wouldn't buy a new car. Admittedly I'd be traveling more, but I'd be coming home to the same house, the same clothes, the same husband... Oh, I'd have a dog. But my family? Ah, THEIR lives would change so very much! Their mortgages would be paid off, their children would have money to go to college when they're ready, their credit cards would have zero balances and their bank accounts would have a LOT more zeroes before the decimal point! Okay, my life would change a lot - I'd be able to be much more generous than I am now... I guess that's a really nice way my life would change, and I'd be so very happy to see that change come my way...
-- I've been lucky in my work life. For the most part, I've had jobs I loved, or worked with people I love, or been lucky enough in one of my jobs to have it both ways, so I can't say I'm miserable getting up in the morning to go to the office. I'll admit I wish my day started later - I've recently become less of a morning person than I was before - I've always been a "stay up and watch TV until midnight" kind of girl, but now it's getting harder and harder to get up before 6am to get ready for work. NO, I'm NOT getting old... I'm just more tired...
For an unplanned Blog Your Heart post, I've really hit a few big ones... Well, it's off to work...
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Staying Married
I have every intention of staying married forever, and staying HAPPY in my marriage forever. Now that's not to say that there won't be days that he drives me freakin' NUTS or I drive him up that proverbial wall. We're not the same person. Even if we agree on all the big things, which we do, I might think that one day of rain will put me over the edge and he'll be thinking, "Awesome, the yard needs watering."
Here's how I was raised...
My mom taught me that...
...when you're single, you have no one to answer to but God and yourself (and your parents, when you're young)
...when you're married, you have to put your marriage first, your husband second, and yourself last
...when you have children, the children come first, the family second, the marriage third, the husband fourth, and yourself? Uh-huh, dead last again. She said if you're not willing to sacrifice it all for your kids (or your husband, depending on where you are in the family scheme of things), DON'T DO IT.
Now don't get all pissy with me - your husband should be putting the marriage and you ahead of himself, or the kids and the family and the marriage and you ahead of himself - having this same philosophy about love and marriage and children: that's what makes it work so well. The kids will always know they come first. They will always know they are loved and can depend on their parents. They will always look back at their childhood and remember how much their parents loved them and each other.
Now I'm sure Mom didn't mean at your own or your spouse's expense, not to the black and white definition of that phrase, but you all have to be willing to sacrifice for the good of each other. Selfishness has no place in a family or a relationship.
Today I was reading Elise Joy's blog and she referred to this article about staying married for 15 years. Well, she's a newlywed, but J and I just celebrated our 13th year married (and our 22nd together). So I was curious to see what the article said. I liked it! Enjoy!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-netzer/marriage-secrets_b_1459770.html?ref=tw
Here's how I was raised...
My mom taught me that...
...when you're single, you have no one to answer to but God and yourself (and your parents, when you're young)
...when you're married, you have to put your marriage first, your husband second, and yourself last
...when you have children, the children come first, the family second, the marriage third, the husband fourth, and yourself? Uh-huh, dead last again. She said if you're not willing to sacrifice it all for your kids (or your husband, depending on where you are in the family scheme of things), DON'T DO IT.
Now don't get all pissy with me - your husband should be putting the marriage and you ahead of himself, or the kids and the family and the marriage and you ahead of himself - having this same philosophy about love and marriage and children: that's what makes it work so well. The kids will always know they come first. They will always know they are loved and can depend on their parents. They will always look back at their childhood and remember how much their parents loved them and each other.
Now I'm sure Mom didn't mean at your own or your spouse's expense, not to the black and white definition of that phrase, but you all have to be willing to sacrifice for the good of each other. Selfishness has no place in a family or a relationship.
Today I was reading Elise Joy's blog and she referred to this article about staying married for 15 years. Well, she's a newlywed, but J and I just celebrated our 13th year married (and our 22nd together). So I was curious to see what the article said. I liked it! Enjoy!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-netzer/marriage-secrets_b_1459770.html?ref=tw
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Jury Duty, Work, Fall...
I was called for jury duty back in April or May. I filled in my form, mailed it in and promptly forgot about it until it was time to serve. I told my boss I had jury duty and reported on time to the Paterson Courthouse, only to find that I COULDN'T serve because, they claimed, I hadn't mailed my form in to them.
I had the stub with me, the portion you have to bring that has your juror I.D. on it. Quite obviously the form was not there. Wherever in the system it got lost - by the USPS, at the courthouse - I couldn't serve that day because they didn't have my form. So they told me they'd reschedule me for September 11.
Well, in August I got my paperwork again, and THIS time they told me to complete the form online. (It's like they didn't trust me to mail it in again...) And THIS time my time to serve was THREE DAYS, not one. They're punishing me because they lost my paperwork?!?!?
But I went to jury duty like a good citizen. And on that very first day, THEY PICKED ME FOR A JURY. The catch to this is it's "3 days or 1 trial." If chosen for the jury, the judge said, they expected the trial itself to last 3-5 weeks, 3 days a week. They picked 65 of us from the jury pool, and we went up to Judge G's courtroom. They asked if anyone needed to be excused for hardship reasons, or if they had a vacation paid and scheduled within the next 3-5 weeks. FIFTY of the 65 people said yes, so we spent two days going through those 50 people in private interviews. There were 19 of us left after all the excused were excused. So they chose 14 to go into the jury box. I was juror #9.
The NEXT week we went back on Wednesday, and they had more people in the courtroom and they started our individual interviews and THAT took two days. Eventually they excused me, the defense attorney did. There was a police officer on the jury with me. During our breaks, he was explaining how excusing jurors is just like a big chess game. Of course there are probably myriad reasons they didn't want me or the others they excused: relatives who are in law enforcement, our likely politics based on how we get our news, whether we can understand and consider the evidence without allowing personal feelings or opinions to influence our findings, the TV shows we watch, etc. It was really fascinating...
Considering I was only out of the office two days each week, I really feel like I'm behind at work. Summer was so S L O W that when things went back to "normal" at the start of September, I felt (and feel) overwhelmed! And while there's no more work than I've done before, but the summer was really slow and it FEELS like more... And my hours have changed, which I know contributes to my feeling that there aren't enough hours in the day. I used to drive in with J and would be at work 7:30am, and he'd drive me home, picking me up no earlier than 5:45pm. Now, I'm in for 7:30am, but I'm leaving at 3:30pm. If of course, I need more hours, I'll stay and take the train home, but 7:30-3:30 is a full day. Who knew that those extra two hours a day I was putting in really made that much of a difference?!? I thought I spent most of them surfing the net and reading personal email and FB and Twitter... Apparently, I was working part of that time!!!
And I decided that the other day, a day I took off as a vacation day, would be the ideal day to bring fall clothes down and put summer clothes away.
I.DO.NOT.EVER.NEED.TO.BUY.ANOTHER.PAIR.OF.BLACK.OR.GRAY.PANTS.NOT.EVER.
I'm going shopping this weekend, but will only allow myself a pair of BROWN pants, jeans, and/or a few colored tops. I really need to take a picture of my closet - I'll try to remember to do that tonight or tomorrow and post it here. It's very black... and gray...
Well, it's 8:52pm and I have to shut down and go upstairs and get ready for my favorite show's season premiere: Criminal Minds. See you guys in a couple of days... In the meantime, a few images from the last couple of weeks...
Took Mom and my baby sister to Wendy's for dinner, then my nephew (literally) sped there from work and met us for some food. Here's my sister and me... Pardon my double chin!
Here's Mom sitting on our porch swing one night when she came for dinner. We've figured out the trick to getting her to come: J asks her, early in the day, before she can claim she already put dinner in the microwave... She finds it too easy to say no to me, but she doesn't say no to him, at least not too often...
Here's a shot of a building next to the Paterson Courthouse. It really is beautiful, isn't it?
I'm hooked on Instagram. There's a photographer there who takes some awesome shots of rusty metal anythings... So I thought I'd try to "see" the way she does. That's my biggest complaint about my not-so-mad photography skills. I just don't see things the way a "real" photographer does, and I would like to think I might be able to learn...
I had the stub with me, the portion you have to bring that has your juror I.D. on it. Quite obviously the form was not there. Wherever in the system it got lost - by the USPS, at the courthouse - I couldn't serve that day because they didn't have my form. So they told me they'd reschedule me for September 11.
Well, in August I got my paperwork again, and THIS time they told me to complete the form online. (It's like they didn't trust me to mail it in again...) And THIS time my time to serve was THREE DAYS, not one. They're punishing me because they lost my paperwork?!?!?
But I went to jury duty like a good citizen. And on that very first day, THEY PICKED ME FOR A JURY. The catch to this is it's "3 days or 1 trial." If chosen for the jury, the judge said, they expected the trial itself to last 3-5 weeks, 3 days a week. They picked 65 of us from the jury pool, and we went up to Judge G's courtroom. They asked if anyone needed to be excused for hardship reasons, or if they had a vacation paid and scheduled within the next 3-5 weeks. FIFTY of the 65 people said yes, so we spent two days going through those 50 people in private interviews. There were 19 of us left after all the excused were excused. So they chose 14 to go into the jury box. I was juror #9.
The NEXT week we went back on Wednesday, and they had more people in the courtroom and they started our individual interviews and THAT took two days. Eventually they excused me, the defense attorney did. There was a police officer on the jury with me. During our breaks, he was explaining how excusing jurors is just like a big chess game. Of course there are probably myriad reasons they didn't want me or the others they excused: relatives who are in law enforcement, our likely politics based on how we get our news, whether we can understand and consider the evidence without allowing personal feelings or opinions to influence our findings, the TV shows we watch, etc. It was really fascinating...
Considering I was only out of the office two days each week, I really feel like I'm behind at work. Summer was so S L O W that when things went back to "normal" at the start of September, I felt (and feel) overwhelmed! And while there's no more work than I've done before, but the summer was really slow and it FEELS like more... And my hours have changed, which I know contributes to my feeling that there aren't enough hours in the day. I used to drive in with J and would be at work 7:30am, and he'd drive me home, picking me up no earlier than 5:45pm. Now, I'm in for 7:30am, but I'm leaving at 3:30pm. If of course, I need more hours, I'll stay and take the train home, but 7:30-3:30 is a full day. Who knew that those extra two hours a day I was putting in really made that much of a difference?!? I thought I spent most of them surfing the net and reading personal email and FB and Twitter... Apparently, I was working part of that time!!!
And I decided that the other day, a day I took off as a vacation day, would be the ideal day to bring fall clothes down and put summer clothes away.
I.DO.NOT.EVER.NEED.TO.BUY.ANOTHER.PAIR.OF.BLACK.OR.GRAY.PANTS.NOT.EVER.
I'm going shopping this weekend, but will only allow myself a pair of BROWN pants, jeans, and/or a few colored tops. I really need to take a picture of my closet - I'll try to remember to do that tonight or tomorrow and post it here. It's very black... and gray...
Well, it's 8:52pm and I have to shut down and go upstairs and get ready for my favorite show's season premiere: Criminal Minds. See you guys in a couple of days... In the meantime, a few images from the last couple of weeks...
Took Mom and my baby sister to Wendy's for dinner, then my nephew (literally) sped there from work and met us for some food. Here's my sister and me... Pardon my double chin!
Here's Mom sitting on our porch swing one night when she came for dinner. We've figured out the trick to getting her to come: J asks her, early in the day, before she can claim she already put dinner in the microwave... She finds it too easy to say no to me, but she doesn't say no to him, at least not too often...
Here's a shot of a building next to the Paterson Courthouse. It really is beautiful, isn't it?
I'm hooked on Instagram. There's a photographer there who takes some awesome shots of rusty metal anythings... So I thought I'd try to "see" the way she does. That's my biggest complaint about my not-so-mad photography skills. I just don't see things the way a "real" photographer does, and I would like to think I might be able to learn...
This is my nephew... cute, no?!?
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Found at Lafayette Village antique store
So many treasures, not enough money!
Beautiful wooden drawers
Old Kodak camera
Doors
Black and white painted cement floor
More doors
Remember shoe stretchers? (Betcha $5 there's a set in Mom's closet!)
Loved this cabinet but it was full of mold spores in the drawers
Rotary phone, anyone? Party line? Pilgrim 3-7407...
Beautiful wooden drawers
Old Kodak camera
Doors
Black and white painted cement floor
More doors
Remember shoe stretchers? (Betcha $5 there's a set in Mom's closet!)
Loved this cabinet but it was full of mold spores in the drawers
Rotary phone, anyone? Party line? Pilgrim 3-7407...
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Last weekend in photos...
So let's see...
We went to Atlantic City with some friends. J and I have a tradition of taking self portraits at arm's length and here's our latest...
I'm not much of a cook but check out my fridge!! It's as full as its ever been!!!
We both sort of consider the "front" of the lake house secondary to the back, lake side of the house. I like the idea J had to create this little deck of planters...
This post was done on my smart phone and I have no idea where the text will be with respect to the photos so forgive me if the photos aren't captioned. I'm sure you can figure them all out...
We went to Atlantic City with some friends. J and I have a tradition of taking self portraits at arm's length and here's our latest...
I'm not much of a cook but check out my fridge!! It's as full as its ever been!!!
We both sort of consider the "front" of the lake house secondary to the back, lake side of the house. I like the idea J had to create this little deck of planters...
This post was done on my smart phone and I have no idea where the text will be with respect to the photos so forgive me if the photos aren't captioned. I'm sure you can figure them all out...
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sending you to a great blog...
Thought today I'd send you over to a favorite blog'o'mine: Kayla Aimee Only Slightly Neurotic.
I've been reading Kayla's blog since just after her beautiful daughter was born. Scarlette was born (quite) a bit ahead of schedule and has had some health issues, but thanks to God and her wonderful doctors, she's doing just great! Kayla posts awesome stories and photos about her baby girl, and each one is better than the one before!
Every once in a while she just posts a fun, everyday kind of post. Here's today's: Lacking Common Sense: Me and UPS.
Uh, UPS? Hope you read this one!!
I've been reading Kayla's blog since just after her beautiful daughter was born. Scarlette was born (quite) a bit ahead of schedule and has had some health issues, but thanks to God and her wonderful doctors, she's doing just great! Kayla posts awesome stories and photos about her baby girl, and each one is better than the one before!
Every once in a while she just posts a fun, everyday kind of post. Here's today's: Lacking Common Sense: Me and UPS.
Uh, UPS? Hope you read this one!!
The Baby's 1st Joke
... and I thought it would be a knock, knock joke, but it wasn't...
(and read it out loud the way I write it)
Q. What did the banana say to the docto?
A. Docto, I don't peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel good! (and end it with a hysterical giggle!)
(and read it out loud the way I write it)
Q. What did the banana say to the docto?
A. Docto, I don't peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel good! (and end it with a hysterical giggle!)
Monday, August 20, 2012
New pillow!
I found a red and tan pillow at Big Lots! this weekend and thought it might match the pillows I already bought for the sitting room at the lake. I used Pic Stitch to create this combo photo.
I should remember to post an updated picture of the sitting room...
I should remember to post an updated picture of the sitting room...
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Barstools, before, during, and after
We have no problem acquiring furniture from garage sales, from the curb, etc. A year or so ago, J picked up two stools on the side of the road. We had another smaller one at home; I'm not sure I know where that one came from...
I've been watching John and Sherry transform furniture on their blog,Young House Love (http://www.younghouselove.com). And I knew when they did their daughter's high chair, one they inherited from Sherry's mom, that I wanted to redo these stools.
I struggled for months on the colors; we're planning to redo the lake house kitchen and I wondered about doing the stools in a color that didn't match.
But then I realized I could just paint them again!
Hubby surprised me by sanding and priming two of the three stools and we just brought the third home to work on this week.
I've decided to paint one of the two large stools bright yellow and the other a bright green (but not neon).
The smaller stool will be red, a Christmas red, since I plan on using that smaller one around the holidays.
We should be done with these this week and I'll post pictures when they're done!
If they come out okay, I'm thinking I already know what my next two projects might be....
Added 09/03/12: Done! Love them!
I've been watching John and Sherry transform furniture on their blog,Young House Love (http://www.younghouselove.com). And I knew when they did their daughter's high chair, one they inherited from Sherry's mom, that I wanted to redo these stools.
I struggled for months on the colors; we're planning to redo the lake house kitchen and I wondered about doing the stools in a color that didn't match.
But then I realized I could just paint them again!
Hubby surprised me by sanding and priming two of the three stools and we just brought the third home to work on this week.
I've decided to paint one of the two large stools bright yellow and the other a bright green (but not neon).
The smaller stool will be red, a Christmas red, since I plan on using that smaller one around the holidays.
We should be done with these this week and I'll post pictures when they're done!
If they come out okay, I'm thinking I already know what my next two projects might be....
Added 09/03/12: Done! Love them!
Just finished this page...
Isn't she a cutie?
The border reads:
July 8, 2012 - Eva's 2nd birthday party. We ate tons of food, then we opened lots of presents. We gave her a pink Radio Flyer Big Wheel - exactly what Carrie wanted for her. After cake, after balloons, after playing with her dolls, Eva just went over to Jack, climbed up on his lap, and got ready to sleep!
The border reads:
July 8, 2012 - Eva's 2nd birthday party. We ate tons of food, then we opened lots of presents. We gave her a pink Radio Flyer Big Wheel - exactly what Carrie wanted for her. After cake, after balloons, after playing with her dolls, Eva just went over to Jack, climbed up on his lap, and got ready to sleep!
Monday, August 06, 2012
Books, books, and more books...
I was in Walmart on Saturday and I bought 5 paperback books.
FIVE PAPERBACK BOOKS!
All at once!
And to top it all off, they're FIVE TRASHY ROMANCE NOVELS!
I haven't done that in a while, probably not since I worked at a local independent bookstore and spent my pay on Wednesday nights on books, leaving just enough for gas money for the week...
I've already finished one, and am on page 71 of the second, and in about 15 minutes, I'll be taking my lunch and I hope to get a lot further into the second one during my lunch break!
Pure escapism, that's what this is. Escapism. Beach reads. Mindless fluff that doesn't require me to think or concentrate.
Which is a good thing 'cause the heat and humidity have been making me feel tired and lackadaisical and listless and not at my best. So bring on the mindless fluff!!!
FIVE PAPERBACK BOOKS!
All at once!
And to top it all off, they're FIVE TRASHY ROMANCE NOVELS!
I haven't done that in a while, probably not since I worked at a local independent bookstore and spent my pay on Wednesday nights on books, leaving just enough for gas money for the week...
I've already finished one, and am on page 71 of the second, and in about 15 minutes, I'll be taking my lunch and I hope to get a lot further into the second one during my lunch break!
Pure escapism, that's what this is. Escapism. Beach reads. Mindless fluff that doesn't require me to think or concentrate.
Which is a good thing 'cause the heat and humidity have been making me feel tired and lackadaisical and listless and not at my best. So bring on the mindless fluff!!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Two Words: Men's Gymnastics
I am not a huge Olympics fan. Sure I like to watch us win lots of medals. And I always hope no one is seriously injured doing all these sometimes rather extreme sporty things...
But I have decided that I am most definitely a fan of Men's Gymnastics.
The pummel horse.
The high bar.
The parallel bars.
Oh, my.
That's all I have to say: Oh.My.
That is one amazing sport. I literally sat, frozen, watching those young men compete. It's utterly amazing to me that anyone can have that kind of strength in their upper body, enough to not only support their own weight, but to swing their bodies around like that.
Oh.My.
I can't even open a jar of salsa.
But I have decided that I am most definitely a fan of Men's Gymnastics.
The pummel horse.
The high bar.
The parallel bars.
Oh, my.
That's all I have to say: Oh.My.
That is one amazing sport. I literally sat, frozen, watching those young men compete. It's utterly amazing to me that anyone can have that kind of strength in their upper body, enough to not only support their own weight, but to swing their bodies around like that.
Oh.My.
I can't even open a jar of salsa.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Playing Catch Up...
It's been a busy couple of weeks... When last I posted, my cousins were coming in from Arizona. Here's a photo of my cousin K, her husband P, and their beautiful granddaughter, A. We had a lovely time at dinner - and it turns out A is a huge Harry Potter fan, too, so she had fun looking at the HP book J got me for Christmas...
Our families live thousands of miles apart, and have for many, many years. It's amazing to me how much can happen, how people you are related to can be so very different from you, can have different morals and ethics (NOT my lovely cousins in the above photo!), can live lives you wouldn't dream could be real...
Our 13th wedding anniversary was July 25th. To celebrate this year, we decided to take a mini vacation to Lake George. We visited the Historical Association, the library, etc. We hadn't planned to stay more than two days, max - we booked a room for one night and thought we'd wing it for the second night. We took a ride up 9N to Bolton Landing, walked around the downtown area, sent some photos home to daughter M, then started to drive up to Fort Ticonderoga. We passed a gas station outside of Bolton Landing, and I suggested we get some gas but J didn't want to spend $4.69 a gallon. So we continued up the road, and eventually found a visitor's center. They said we had to turn around and go back to Bolton Landing for gas, continue the 10 miles up to Ticonderoga, or try to make our way out to Route 87 and find a gas station on the highway.
So we decided to head for 87 - the downhill part of 9N above Bolton Landing did a number on our brakes - they were hot, hot, hot AND our check engine light went on! That clinched it - we decided to make our way home, rather than stay another night in NY state. J didn't bring his code reader for the car, so we had to cross our fingers there was nothing seriously wrong with the car and head for NJ. We stopped for gas, then for lunch, then got home in the late afternoon. While I certainly wish our vacation had been longer, we had SUCH a great time! Proof positive, in my humble opinion, that J COULD actually learn to enjoy retirement, if only he'd decide to actually retire!
Here are some photos from Lake George:
This was a beautiful hibiscus flower outside one of the tourist shops on Canada Street. It was probably the most beautiful thing I saw in or around those stores - there were a lot of kitschy souveniers but not a lot of quality gift items, at least in my opinion.
This is the building in which the Historical Association is housed. The curator told us that the reason there was scaffolding outside and windows boarded up is because a major hailstorm several months ago broke many of the windows and damaged the exterior. They are now beginning the renovations.
This is one of the many artifacts we got to see, up close and personal.
We had just checked in and we were deciding where to go first. I should have taken a photo of the back seat of our car: there were probably 50 tourist maps and brochures we picked up in the rest stops on the Thruway...
We had coffee in this little coffee shop in Bolton Landing on Friday morning. I had teased J the day before: "So, do you think we'll run into anyone you know here in Lake George?" We always do - we were in Las Vegas and ran into neighbors who lived near him when he was married the first time. We ran into people in Atlantic City, on a cruise... So we were just walking into this coffee shop when a woman and her child came out and started chatting with J. I really thought it was just stranger-speak - you know, "Thanks for holding the door," etc. Until I realized she was telling her son to "say hello to Mr. S." He was a pre-K student this year; J said he saw either the mom or the dad 5 times a week when they were dropping their son off at school! Go figure!
We stopped by the side of the road, on 9N, and I just snapped this photo. GORGEOUS!
When we got back we picked some vegetables from our garden. Last year we were amazed at the size of our cucumbers. Well, 2012 has last year beat! See?
We picked onions, tomatoes, basil, oregano, cucumbers - mmm...
You can see how overgrown the garden is in this shot - the tomato vines are through the railing and growing across the deck!
Lunch yesterday: our tomatoes, our onions, our basil, our oregano, and some mozzarella and pomegranate balsamic from Saratoga Olive Oil Company in Saratoga, NY (we stopped for lunch on the way up). We also bought dark chocolate balsamic (for me!) and fig balsamic for my sister-in-law. Mmm...
Last night J helped me start hanging frames on the wall in the upstairs hallway. Some of the frames are empty, and I have more frames to hang, and more to buy... The gold frame will eventually be replaced with another white one - I want a new look. I originally had mis-matched frames on this wall but I decided to make them all white this time around. What do you think?
Well, that's it for now - it's almost 11:30pm and I have to go to work tomorrow, darn it...
Our families live thousands of miles apart, and have for many, many years. It's amazing to me how much can happen, how people you are related to can be so very different from you, can have different morals and ethics (NOT my lovely cousins in the above photo!), can live lives you wouldn't dream could be real...
Our 13th wedding anniversary was July 25th. To celebrate this year, we decided to take a mini vacation to Lake George. We visited the Historical Association, the library, etc. We hadn't planned to stay more than two days, max - we booked a room for one night and thought we'd wing it for the second night. We took a ride up 9N to Bolton Landing, walked around the downtown area, sent some photos home to daughter M, then started to drive up to Fort Ticonderoga. We passed a gas station outside of Bolton Landing, and I suggested we get some gas but J didn't want to spend $4.69 a gallon. So we continued up the road, and eventually found a visitor's center. They said we had to turn around and go back to Bolton Landing for gas, continue the 10 miles up to Ticonderoga, or try to make our way out to Route 87 and find a gas station on the highway.
So we decided to head for 87 - the downhill part of 9N above Bolton Landing did a number on our brakes - they were hot, hot, hot AND our check engine light went on! That clinched it - we decided to make our way home, rather than stay another night in NY state. J didn't bring his code reader for the car, so we had to cross our fingers there was nothing seriously wrong with the car and head for NJ. We stopped for gas, then for lunch, then got home in the late afternoon. While I certainly wish our vacation had been longer, we had SUCH a great time! Proof positive, in my humble opinion, that J COULD actually learn to enjoy retirement, if only he'd decide to actually retire!
Here are some photos from Lake George:
This was a beautiful hibiscus flower outside one of the tourist shops on Canada Street. It was probably the most beautiful thing I saw in or around those stores - there were a lot of kitschy souveniers but not a lot of quality gift items, at least in my opinion.
This is the building in which the Historical Association is housed. The curator told us that the reason there was scaffolding outside and windows boarded up is because a major hailstorm several months ago broke many of the windows and damaged the exterior. They are now beginning the renovations.
This is one of the many artifacts we got to see, up close and personal.
We had just checked in and we were deciding where to go first. I should have taken a photo of the back seat of our car: there were probably 50 tourist maps and brochures we picked up in the rest stops on the Thruway...
We had coffee in this little coffee shop in Bolton Landing on Friday morning. I had teased J the day before: "So, do you think we'll run into anyone you know here in Lake George?" We always do - we were in Las Vegas and ran into neighbors who lived near him when he was married the first time. We ran into people in Atlantic City, on a cruise... So we were just walking into this coffee shop when a woman and her child came out and started chatting with J. I really thought it was just stranger-speak - you know, "Thanks for holding the door," etc. Until I realized she was telling her son to "say hello to Mr. S." He was a pre-K student this year; J said he saw either the mom or the dad 5 times a week when they were dropping their son off at school! Go figure!
We stopped by the side of the road, on 9N, and I just snapped this photo. GORGEOUS!
When we got back we picked some vegetables from our garden. Last year we were amazed at the size of our cucumbers. Well, 2012 has last year beat! See?
We picked onions, tomatoes, basil, oregano, cucumbers - mmm...
You can see how overgrown the garden is in this shot - the tomato vines are through the railing and growing across the deck!
Lunch yesterday: our tomatoes, our onions, our basil, our oregano, and some mozzarella and pomegranate balsamic from Saratoga Olive Oil Company in Saratoga, NY (we stopped for lunch on the way up). We also bought dark chocolate balsamic (for me!) and fig balsamic for my sister-in-law. Mmm...
Last night J helped me start hanging frames on the wall in the upstairs hallway. Some of the frames are empty, and I have more frames to hang, and more to buy... The gold frame will eventually be replaced with another white one - I want a new look. I originally had mis-matched frames on this wall but I decided to make them all white this time around. What do you think?
Well, that's it for now - it's almost 11:30pm and I have to go to work tomorrow, darn it...
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Family tomorrow!
I'm very excited! One of my cousins is coming to visit tomorrow with her husband and her granddaughter.
K is my first cousin on my dad's side. She lives in Gilbert, AZ, and I haven't seen her since my cousin T died in May, 2008. Before that, she flew out for my wedding in 1999. I saw her in 1998 for her mom's funeral here in NJ; they had moved out to Colorado in the 1970s, after my grandfather died.
I don't see that side of the family very much, but in recent years, with email and Facebook and IMing and texting, it's so much easier to stay in touch. We used to go to Granddaddy's house every Sunday; he lived in Bloomingdale, NJ, and I loved it there. It was a small town. And everything you thought you knew about a small town was true in Bloomingdale.
Yes, everyone knew each other.
Yes, it was safe.
Yes, we played outside whenever we were there, unless it was winter and cold outside.
Yes, we played on swings and walked around town and caught fireflies.
Yes, we picnicked under the giant shade tree.
Yes, Granddaddy hid candy in the newspaper for us every Sunday.
(And yes, Mom knew nothing about that until Todd's funeral when we talked about it!)
Yes, spending Sundays with my Dad's family made me feel loved and special and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Yes, I have lovely memories of my childhood and I wish everyone had the same...
I'll take some photos tomorrow. I'm leaving an hour early today, and spending tomorrow morning cleaning and straightening the house for visitors, then shopping for food. The family is coming over for dinner late in the afternoon. Can't wait to update you all!!
K is my first cousin on my dad's side. She lives in Gilbert, AZ, and I haven't seen her since my cousin T died in May, 2008. Before that, she flew out for my wedding in 1999. I saw her in 1998 for her mom's funeral here in NJ; they had moved out to Colorado in the 1970s, after my grandfather died.
I don't see that side of the family very much, but in recent years, with email and Facebook and IMing and texting, it's so much easier to stay in touch. We used to go to Granddaddy's house every Sunday; he lived in Bloomingdale, NJ, and I loved it there. It was a small town. And everything you thought you knew about a small town was true in Bloomingdale.
Yes, everyone knew each other.
Yes, it was safe.
Yes, we played outside whenever we were there, unless it was winter and cold outside.
Yes, we played on swings and walked around town and caught fireflies.
Yes, we picnicked under the giant shade tree.
Yes, Granddaddy hid candy in the newspaper for us every Sunday.
(And yes, Mom knew nothing about that until Todd's funeral when we talked about it!)
Yes, spending Sundays with my Dad's family made me feel loved and special and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Yes, I have lovely memories of my childhood and I wish everyone had the same...
I'll take some photos tomorrow. I'm leaving an hour early today, and spending tomorrow morning cleaning and straightening the house for visitors, then shopping for food. The family is coming over for dinner late in the afternoon. Can't wait to update you all!!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
2
I bought myself a new book, one I saw recommended on a few blogs that I read. The name of the book is 2: How Will You Create Something Beautiful Together? written by Dan Zadra and Kobi Yamada.
The very first page touched my heart. I'd like to share it with you, and those of you reading this? Those of you whose hearts this will touch? You know who you are... You're welcome!
"From the time we are very small, we know that one plus one is two. But when the right people come together, one plus one is actually more than two. Much more.
We are not made to go through life alone. Everything about us is designed to become stronger, happier, and more fulfilled when we have found our love, our partner, our matching puzzle piece.
The miracle is that sharing life actually makes life bigger. The arithmetic is magic. Real love always adds, it never subtracts. With love, we double our joys, divide our worries, and multiply our possibilities for a life of meaning, romance and adventure.
Yes, life was meant to be shared. It's not what we have in our life, but who we have in our life that counts. If you have found love, you have been given life's greatest gift. How will you celebrate it? How will you use it to grow?
How will you create something beautiful together?"
My 13th wedding anniversary is the 25th. I remember when my nephew got married the year after we did, a friend of my SIL commented to me that I wasn't "the bride" anymore. You know what? I still feel like a newlywed! Maybe it's because I was older when I got married (38) so I have a better appreciation of time and have experienced how it flies much faster when you're older. 13 years is NOT a long time, considering I'm going to be 52 on my next b'day; I've only been married for about 1/4 of my lifetime!
I can't wait to read the rest of this book! And I'm going to make a concerted effort to be a better wife to my absolutely wonderful husband. It's so easy to take unintended advantage. We say "I love you" to each other several times a day: every time we part, every time we talk on the phone before we hang up, sometimes for no apparent reason and out of the blue. But I want to show it. I want to show it in my actions. I want others to see it when they see us together. Especially during the summers: he's home 1/2 the day, every day, while I'm at work, so while I am not on summer vacation like he is, it really is a vacation for me. The laundry is done, he cooks dinner (or at least gets it ready so all I have to do is heat it up if I get home before him), he runs errands (the dry cleaner doesn't see me at all during July and August!), he takes my Mom where she needs to go during the day so she doesn't have to wait until I get home... I could go on and on.
And all I do is live the easy life for two months, then hate having to do any of that stuff the other 10 months of the year! Here's my July resolution: To read this book, take it to heart, make a real noticeable effort to "create something beautiful together."
We'll see how I do...
The very first page touched my heart. I'd like to share it with you, and those of you reading this? Those of you whose hearts this will touch? You know who you are... You're welcome!
"From the time we are very small, we know that one plus one is two. But when the right people come together, one plus one is actually more than two. Much more.
We are not made to go through life alone. Everything about us is designed to become stronger, happier, and more fulfilled when we have found our love, our partner, our matching puzzle piece.
The miracle is that sharing life actually makes life bigger. The arithmetic is magic. Real love always adds, it never subtracts. With love, we double our joys, divide our worries, and multiply our possibilities for a life of meaning, romance and adventure.
Yes, life was meant to be shared. It's not what we have in our life, but who we have in our life that counts. If you have found love, you have been given life's greatest gift. How will you celebrate it? How will you use it to grow?
How will you create something beautiful together?"
My 13th wedding anniversary is the 25th. I remember when my nephew got married the year after we did, a friend of my SIL commented to me that I wasn't "the bride" anymore. You know what? I still feel like a newlywed! Maybe it's because I was older when I got married (38) so I have a better appreciation of time and have experienced how it flies much faster when you're older. 13 years is NOT a long time, considering I'm going to be 52 on my next b'day; I've only been married for about 1/4 of my lifetime!
I can't wait to read the rest of this book! And I'm going to make a concerted effort to be a better wife to my absolutely wonderful husband. It's so easy to take unintended advantage. We say "I love you" to each other several times a day: every time we part, every time we talk on the phone before we hang up, sometimes for no apparent reason and out of the blue. But I want to show it. I want to show it in my actions. I want others to see it when they see us together. Especially during the summers: he's home 1/2 the day, every day, while I'm at work, so while I am not on summer vacation like he is, it really is a vacation for me. The laundry is done, he cooks dinner (or at least gets it ready so all I have to do is heat it up if I get home before him), he runs errands (the dry cleaner doesn't see me at all during July and August!), he takes my Mom where she needs to go during the day so she doesn't have to wait until I get home... I could go on and on.
And all I do is live the easy life for two months, then hate having to do any of that stuff the other 10 months of the year! Here's my July resolution: To read this book, take it to heart, make a real noticeable effort to "create something beautiful together."
We'll see how I do...
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Health Update - Don't Get Scared!
Although admittedly, I did, for a moment or two...
It all started last Friday night. We decided the day before we were going to go to the Olive Garden for dinner. So we spent a lovely day on the dock and on the water - the weather was gorgeous, hot and sunny, but not humid enough to keep me inside all day... We ran into a teacher friend of J's who happens to live in the area so we were standing and chatting with her, waiting for our little seating buzzer to light and and vibrate.
All of a sudden I noticed a C-shaped I-don't-know-what, at the perifery of my vision in my left eye. I blinked, thinking it would disappear. It didn't. The only way I can describe it is to say it was a "C" made out of alternating triangles. Eventually I read someone else's description of it as zig-zag and that might be more accurate, but it was flashing a bit, like the flashing lights you supposedly see when your retina is detaching. (I read way too much on the Internet! PLUS I have a best friend whose retina was detached in an accident years ago...)
It lasted about 20/25 minutes then disappeared entirely. No lasting effects, no vision impairment, no headache. J and I talked about it and agreed that I'd better call the eye doctor. So I did, at 6:10pm. They closed already so I called their "emergency number"/answering service. "Emergency number," my eye! (No pun intended!)
The lady was very nice, and she asked me if it was an emergency. Now, granted, I did say I hadn't beein in a car accident and there was no head trauma of any kind, so technically it wasn't a rush-to-the-hospital-and-save-my-vision kind of emergency, but it was MY EYES, PEOPLE!
And I waited. And waited some more. And when I hadn't gotten a call the next morning, I called the office because the answering service told me they were open Saturday from 8am-12noon. But the machine came on at 8:15/8:30-ish, referring patients to the answering service. So I called them. Again.
And THAT very nice lady told me that my message read "customer claims no emergency" and that the doctor would be getting my message on Monday, at 8:30am. And if they didn't answer their phones, they must be closed. "A lot of our clients forgot to tell us they were closing on July 4th, through the weekend, so that's what must have happened with them."
I explained (calmly) that I hadn't exactly said it wasn't an emergency, but I guess I sort of did - she doesn't apparently read mild panic about MY EYES as an emergency - she just heard the words "no car accident" and "no head trauma."
So I waited until they called me Monday (at 9:30am, btw). The receptionist kindly rushed me in as an emergency patient at 1pm yesterday, so I left work and went home at lunchtime.
I thought I might have to wait a while but I didn't; they took me almost immediately. They gave me drops, checked my eye pressure, then told me to wait 15-20 minutes for the drop in my left eye to work. The doctor came in, did a pretty thorough examination with multiple light sources and magnifiers.
Thankfully he said my pressure was good, my optic nerve and blood vessels all looked fine, my retina was NOT detached (not even close!). Then he suggested I go see my GP to eliminate the possibility of a TIA or mini-stroke.
BOOM.
That was the shoe dropping.
A mini-stroke? A TIA? Are you kidding me?! THEN just to be sure I was paying attention, he tossed around words like neurological consult, brain tumor, preventative, etc.
Just for the record, folks, after that initial "WHAT?!?" I knew this was just a matter of eliminating other reasons for a most-likely one-time occurence that he had no explanation for. Dr. Internet led me to the ocular migraine diagnosis on my own, along with confirmation of that from a friend we had dinner with on Saturday night who suffers from the same thing, but with the accompanying migraine headache. The note my eye doctor wrote for my GP reads as follows:
- One episode of unexplained visual phenomenon
- Suggests ocular migraine/vs. TIA
- check clotting abnormality
- Carotid/Doppler only if you feel patient is at risk for TIA
- Neuro consult
1. I had a clotting test done years ago when a blood center employee told me I had thick blood because it took her 2 HOURS to get one pint of blood from me when I was donating. I was fine. I don't have thick blood or a clotting problem.
2. There's no history of TIAs or strokes in my family, a couple of heart attacks, and some high blood pressure, but not enough to worry me at all.
So tomorrow I'm going to my GP for a physical. And I'm going to ask her to give me the works; I haven't had a complete physical in a few years, so maybe this is just God's way of making sure I know I'm okay.
I did try the ole "ocular migraines are stress-induced so I have to retire" thing, but J didn't fall for it.
Darn, he's smarter than I like sometimes!!!
I'll keep you all posted!
It all started last Friday night. We decided the day before we were going to go to the Olive Garden for dinner. So we spent a lovely day on the dock and on the water - the weather was gorgeous, hot and sunny, but not humid enough to keep me inside all day... We ran into a teacher friend of J's who happens to live in the area so we were standing and chatting with her, waiting for our little seating buzzer to light and and vibrate.
All of a sudden I noticed a C-shaped I-don't-know-what, at the perifery of my vision in my left eye. I blinked, thinking it would disappear. It didn't. The only way I can describe it is to say it was a "C" made out of alternating triangles. Eventually I read someone else's description of it as zig-zag and that might be more accurate, but it was flashing a bit, like the flashing lights you supposedly see when your retina is detaching. (I read way too much on the Internet! PLUS I have a best friend whose retina was detached in an accident years ago...)
It lasted about 20/25 minutes then disappeared entirely. No lasting effects, no vision impairment, no headache. J and I talked about it and agreed that I'd better call the eye doctor. So I did, at 6:10pm. They closed already so I called their "emergency number"/answering service. "Emergency number," my eye! (No pun intended!)
The lady was very nice, and she asked me if it was an emergency. Now, granted, I did say I hadn't beein in a car accident and there was no head trauma of any kind, so technically it wasn't a rush-to-the-hospital-and-save-my-vision kind of emergency, but it was MY EYES, PEOPLE!
And I waited. And waited some more. And when I hadn't gotten a call the next morning, I called the office because the answering service told me they were open Saturday from 8am-12noon. But the machine came on at 8:15/8:30-ish, referring patients to the answering service. So I called them. Again.
And THAT very nice lady told me that my message read "customer claims no emergency" and that the doctor would be getting my message on Monday, at 8:30am. And if they didn't answer their phones, they must be closed. "A lot of our clients forgot to tell us they were closing on July 4th, through the weekend, so that's what must have happened with them."
I explained (calmly) that I hadn't exactly said it wasn't an emergency, but I guess I sort of did - she doesn't apparently read mild panic about MY EYES as an emergency - she just heard the words "no car accident" and "no head trauma."
So I waited until they called me Monday (at 9:30am, btw). The receptionist kindly rushed me in as an emergency patient at 1pm yesterday, so I left work and went home at lunchtime.
I thought I might have to wait a while but I didn't; they took me almost immediately. They gave me drops, checked my eye pressure, then told me to wait 15-20 minutes for the drop in my left eye to work. The doctor came in, did a pretty thorough examination with multiple light sources and magnifiers.
Thankfully he said my pressure was good, my optic nerve and blood vessels all looked fine, my retina was NOT detached (not even close!). Then he suggested I go see my GP to eliminate the possibility of a TIA or mini-stroke.
BOOM.
That was the shoe dropping.
A mini-stroke? A TIA? Are you kidding me?! THEN just to be sure I was paying attention, he tossed around words like neurological consult, brain tumor, preventative, etc.
Just for the record, folks, after that initial "WHAT?!?" I knew this was just a matter of eliminating other reasons for a most-likely one-time occurence that he had no explanation for. Dr. Internet led me to the ocular migraine diagnosis on my own, along with confirmation of that from a friend we had dinner with on Saturday night who suffers from the same thing, but with the accompanying migraine headache. The note my eye doctor wrote for my GP reads as follows:
- One episode of unexplained visual phenomenon
- Suggests ocular migraine/vs. TIA
- check clotting abnormality
- Carotid/Doppler only if you feel patient is at risk for TIA
- Neuro consult
1. I had a clotting test done years ago when a blood center employee told me I had thick blood because it took her 2 HOURS to get one pint of blood from me when I was donating. I was fine. I don't have thick blood or a clotting problem.
2. There's no history of TIAs or strokes in my family, a couple of heart attacks, and some high blood pressure, but not enough to worry me at all.
So tomorrow I'm going to my GP for a physical. And I'm going to ask her to give me the works; I haven't had a complete physical in a few years, so maybe this is just God's way of making sure I know I'm okay.
I did try the ole "ocular migraines are stress-induced so I have to retire" thing, but J didn't fall for it.
Darn, he's smarter than I like sometimes!!!
I'll keep you all posted!
Friday, June 29, 2012
50 Shades of You're Kidding Me!!!
Okay, I've read them. All three of them. On my Kindle. [So not only did I hate the books, I hated the reading experience, too, but I'm not here to harp on the Kindle - if you're reading my blog, you already know how I feel about books vs. e-books.]
Do you know how I feel about the latest go-round of "Mommy Porn"??? Do you want to know?
I was raised in a good Roman Catholic family, no nudity, no drugs, no sex and rock and roll (at least not until I went to college! Rock and roll, Mom! I'm talking about rock and roll!).
But I'm not a prude. I'm a baby boomer, too young to have been a feminist warrior, but old enough to have seen a WHOLE bunch of changes in the way women have been and are being treated in this big world. I can accept that what goes on in your room is your business, not mine, as long as there are no children being hurt.
My very first job interview out of college with with L-hman Brothers (pick a vowel, any vowel, but especially an "e"!) and I didn't get the job because I was young and probably going to get pregnant soon and leave them in the lurch. I wasn't savvy enough to call him on his comments, but I was quick enough to ask why the person they were replacing had left: sure enough, she had gotten pregnant. It was an entry level office position and I explained that despite my College Degree and my obvious Overqualification for the Job, I also had College Loans that had to be paid off so I was really looking to start working right away and I promised I wouldn't get pregant for several years. No dice, no job. Of course, it was an easy promise: hubby-to-be wouldn't be in the picture for 8 more years...
But nowhere, not ever, in all my 50 years, has ANY man asked me to be submissive to him in any way. Not in a job, not in a marriage, not in a relationship, and not in a sexual relationship. And I RESENT the "heroine" (and I use THAT term loosely!) being presented as a 22-year-old college graduate who actually STRUGGLES with the decision: should I sign that contract, agreeing to be his sexual toy to do with whatever he wants, whether it hurts me or not? Should I agree to call him "Sir" and never, ever look him in the eye when we're in his playroom? Should I really agree to KNEEL before him, waiting for him to deign to mistreat me, looking only at his SHOES?!?!
REALLY?????????????????????
It's 2012, people! I am SO offended by the whole idea that a young girl today would even CONSIDER this! And not because the sex bothered me. I read sexy romances all the time. It's a writing style that sometimes adds to the story and sometimes IS all there is in the story. Again, whatever floats your boat if it's not illegal is your business.
You've already heard my rants about Twilight, I'm sure, how a series of books targeted at tweens should NOT, in my humble opinion, include a 16-year-old main character who struggles with how UNworthy she is to be with the hero: "I'm too fat/skinny, not smart/pretty enough; he's so much handsomer and smarter than me..." BLEGGGHHH. I get it: I know tween girls, the target audience, struggle with self-esteem. I know that they would feel some connection with a main character who feels not quite good enough, but she should overcome, she should shake off the self-esteem issues, learn and believe that she IS GOOD ENOUGH IF NOT BETTER than that sparkly vampire! Ugh.
Okay, 'nough ranting.
I read 50 Shades of Gray, #1, #2, and #3. I despised the girl, the main character, throughout the whole book. Believe it or not, by the end of book 3, I actually came to like Christian Gray, self-admitted "50 shades of f-cked up" hero that he is, because HIS character developed. He learned from his feelings and his relationship that love is more important than sex, that love and caring and a relationship don't need the bells and whistles, the shock and awe of his Dominant/Submissive scenario. He grew up, folks, but I never felt like she did.
THAT'S what I disliked most about the books. Oops, someone has to borrow my soapbox now... Later!
Do you know how I feel about the latest go-round of "Mommy Porn"??? Do you want to know?
I was raised in a good Roman Catholic family, no nudity, no drugs, no sex and rock and roll (at least not until I went to college! Rock and roll, Mom! I'm talking about rock and roll!).
But I'm not a prude. I'm a baby boomer, too young to have been a feminist warrior, but old enough to have seen a WHOLE bunch of changes in the way women have been and are being treated in this big world. I can accept that what goes on in your room is your business, not mine, as long as there are no children being hurt.
My very first job interview out of college with with L-hman Brothers (pick a vowel, any vowel, but especially an "e"!) and I didn't get the job because I was young and probably going to get pregnant soon and leave them in the lurch. I wasn't savvy enough to call him on his comments, but I was quick enough to ask why the person they were replacing had left: sure enough, she had gotten pregnant. It was an entry level office position and I explained that despite my College Degree and my obvious Overqualification for the Job, I also had College Loans that had to be paid off so I was really looking to start working right away and I promised I wouldn't get pregant for several years. No dice, no job. Of course, it was an easy promise: hubby-to-be wouldn't be in the picture for 8 more years...
But nowhere, not ever, in all my 50 years, has ANY man asked me to be submissive to him in any way. Not in a job, not in a marriage, not in a relationship, and not in a sexual relationship. And I RESENT the "heroine" (and I use THAT term loosely!) being presented as a 22-year-old college graduate who actually STRUGGLES with the decision: should I sign that contract, agreeing to be his sexual toy to do with whatever he wants, whether it hurts me or not? Should I agree to call him "Sir" and never, ever look him in the eye when we're in his playroom? Should I really agree to KNEEL before him, waiting for him to deign to mistreat me, looking only at his SHOES?!?!
REALLY?????????????????????
It's 2012, people! I am SO offended by the whole idea that a young girl today would even CONSIDER this! And not because the sex bothered me. I read sexy romances all the time. It's a writing style that sometimes adds to the story and sometimes IS all there is in the story. Again, whatever floats your boat if it's not illegal is your business.
You've already heard my rants about Twilight, I'm sure, how a series of books targeted at tweens should NOT, in my humble opinion, include a 16-year-old main character who struggles with how UNworthy she is to be with the hero: "I'm too fat/skinny, not smart/pretty enough; he's so much handsomer and smarter than me..." BLEGGGHHH. I get it: I know tween girls, the target audience, struggle with self-esteem. I know that they would feel some connection with a main character who feels not quite good enough, but she should overcome, she should shake off the self-esteem issues, learn and believe that she IS GOOD ENOUGH IF NOT BETTER than that sparkly vampire! Ugh.
Okay, 'nough ranting.
I read 50 Shades of Gray, #1, #2, and #3. I despised the girl, the main character, throughout the whole book. Believe it or not, by the end of book 3, I actually came to like Christian Gray, self-admitted "50 shades of f-cked up" hero that he is, because HIS character developed. He learned from his feelings and his relationship that love is more important than sex, that love and caring and a relationship don't need the bells and whistles, the shock and awe of his Dominant/Submissive scenario. He grew up, folks, but I never felt like she did.
THAT'S what I disliked most about the books. Oops, someone has to borrow my soapbox now... Later!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Finally!
I've been back to the gym twice, last week.
I've attended two yoga classes.
J and I have gone on three neighborhood walks. The first one was not long, just around our 3 blocks. The second one was about 5 blocks, just one block over for a different view. THEN we walked from our house to Alwood Road, down that mother of a hill (!), back to our street, and up to our house, a grand total of about 2.14 miles. Anyone that lives in our area knows the Allwood Road hill - I really did walk up it once, and thought I was going to die, so downhill on foot is all I'll even consider at my advanced age...
Then we slacked off all weekend, and putzed around on the rowboat on Saturday, tanning ourselves and relaxing. We drove home, showered, then we walked around the old car show at Whiskey Cafe for 2 hours. Boy, do I love that! I really don't need to do it every day, but it's a lot of fun every week or two. The music is great, straight out of the 50s, and the cars are awesome. J laughs at me because I get mad when there's a car there from the late 70s, early 80s, because "How can a car manufactured when I learned how to drive be a classic???" "Because that's way more than 25 years ago, Krys!"
And today I had a salad for lunch. I actually bought too much; I couldn't finish it even after picking at it at my desk for 2 hours! I'm going to try to move more and eat well, to use the name of an online health class I'm signed up for but not actively participating in right now! But I'm going to try to play catch up over the next couple of weeks. I guess I found my mojo!
Yesterday we went to our family picnic at C&A's house in Caldwell. I'll post pictures in a day or two; I only took a couple with my phone. They have an old Tudor-style home with a beautiful pool in the backyard. It's a steep lot, so you walk downstairs to the pool... If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a picture on Saturday... They had the obligatory hot dogs and cheeseburgers, sausage and peppers, penne and broccoli, ziti, sesame chicken, green bean salad, two different pasta salads, and a bowl of AH-YIVS, or olives unless you're my 2-year-old niece... Mmm, I like olives! For dessert, each family had to bring something: peach cobbler, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate balls (don't ask: they were crushed and moist oreo balls covered in milk chocolate!), watermelon, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, sugar wafers, chocolate cherry cake, sugar cookies, chocolate marble cake, and some other things I didn't even look at...
We were sitting there chatting, the aunts and cousins and me, and niece C came up with a "project" for J. Apparently someone noticed that when you were standing in the pool and you used the metal handrail, you felt a tingling/electrical current! I stepped into the pool, with one leg, held onto that same rail, and felt nothing. But they shut off the breaker to everything at the pool, and an electrician will be summoned tout de suite!
I'm a bit of a braggart when it comes to my baby grand-niece, in case you hadn't noticed, but I found out from her mommy that when her daddy went to the dentist the other day, the hygienist told him how much I bragged about little E! I hope her daddy didn't think I was stealing his thunder! She's just so adorable and I love her so much! If DSD M has a baby, I'm going to be in major trouble! I'll be sharing that grand-baby with the world!!!! You'll probably get sick of hearing about him/her!!
This morning we had one of the WORST thunderstorms we've had in a long time. I got soaked just running out to the car, decided en route to the train station there was no way I was standing on an open platform in that storm, and drove myself to work. So that will be another week paying daily rates; you save on a week, but not enough to buy the week's pass for 4 days... Next week I'll be able to take advantage of the monthly pass. When I got to work, my clothes were still wet from getting in the car, but by mid-morning, after freezing in the A/C for a couple of hours, I was dry again. It's a good thing I keep a fleece shawl in my office... I was huddling under that for 2 hours or so!
My sister in that western state had a bit of a scare this morning. A Rottweiler that was loose wherever she was walking her dogs attacked them. Her Samoyed Miko was actually hurt, but thank goodness, it wasn't too serious. A HUGER thank goodness it didn't attack HER! She's waiting now to speak with Animal Control, and I hope she pursues the owner paying for the emergency room costs. With the town involved, I would hope it would be easier to get some money from them! I'm not a particularly lawsuit-happy citizen, but when someone is responsible for damage to your property or a family member, they have to pay! Somehow...
I went to Kohl's yesterday and bought three summer blouses, spent $60 and got $10 back in Kohl's cash, so I'll have a bit more shopping to do next week! Here are the blouses I bought:
in white:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1023533/Croft+and+Barrow+Macrame+Tank.jsp
the blue floral:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1114567/LC+Lauren+Conrad+Floral+Tank.jsp
in blue:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1057402/ELLE+Scroll+DipDye+Crinkle+Tank.jsp
I'm wearing the white blouse today, with a pair of khaki cargo capris. I wore the blue floral top yesterday for the picnic with a pair of short white capris made out of a linen-y type fabric with drawstring details at the knees. And I can't wait to wear the other crinkle blue top!
Well, my blogging break is over so I'd better get back to work!
I've attended two yoga classes.
J and I have gone on three neighborhood walks. The first one was not long, just around our 3 blocks. The second one was about 5 blocks, just one block over for a different view. THEN we walked from our house to Alwood Road, down that mother of a hill (!), back to our street, and up to our house, a grand total of about 2.14 miles. Anyone that lives in our area knows the Allwood Road hill - I really did walk up it once, and thought I was going to die, so downhill on foot is all I'll even consider at my advanced age...
Then we slacked off all weekend, and putzed around on the rowboat on Saturday, tanning ourselves and relaxing. We drove home, showered, then we walked around the old car show at Whiskey Cafe for 2 hours. Boy, do I love that! I really don't need to do it every day, but it's a lot of fun every week or two. The music is great, straight out of the 50s, and the cars are awesome. J laughs at me because I get mad when there's a car there from the late 70s, early 80s, because "How can a car manufactured when I learned how to drive be a classic???" "Because that's way more than 25 years ago, Krys!"
And today I had a salad for lunch. I actually bought too much; I couldn't finish it even after picking at it at my desk for 2 hours! I'm going to try to move more and eat well, to use the name of an online health class I'm signed up for but not actively participating in right now! But I'm going to try to play catch up over the next couple of weeks. I guess I found my mojo!
Yesterday we went to our family picnic at C&A's house in Caldwell. I'll post pictures in a day or two; I only took a couple with my phone. They have an old Tudor-style home with a beautiful pool in the backyard. It's a steep lot, so you walk downstairs to the pool... If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a picture on Saturday... They had the obligatory hot dogs and cheeseburgers, sausage and peppers, penne and broccoli, ziti, sesame chicken, green bean salad, two different pasta salads, and a bowl of AH-YIVS, or olives unless you're my 2-year-old niece... Mmm, I like olives! For dessert, each family had to bring something: peach cobbler, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate balls (don't ask: they were crushed and moist oreo balls covered in milk chocolate!), watermelon, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, sugar wafers, chocolate cherry cake, sugar cookies, chocolate marble cake, and some other things I didn't even look at...
We were sitting there chatting, the aunts and cousins and me, and niece C came up with a "project" for J. Apparently someone noticed that when you were standing in the pool and you used the metal handrail, you felt a tingling/electrical current! I stepped into the pool, with one leg, held onto that same rail, and felt nothing. But they shut off the breaker to everything at the pool, and an electrician will be summoned tout de suite!
I'm a bit of a braggart when it comes to my baby grand-niece, in case you hadn't noticed, but I found out from her mommy that when her daddy went to the dentist the other day, the hygienist told him how much I bragged about little E! I hope her daddy didn't think I was stealing his thunder! She's just so adorable and I love her so much! If DSD M has a baby, I'm going to be in major trouble! I'll be sharing that grand-baby with the world!!!! You'll probably get sick of hearing about him/her!!
This morning we had one of the WORST thunderstorms we've had in a long time. I got soaked just running out to the car, decided en route to the train station there was no way I was standing on an open platform in that storm, and drove myself to work. So that will be another week paying daily rates; you save on a week, but not enough to buy the week's pass for 4 days... Next week I'll be able to take advantage of the monthly pass. When I got to work, my clothes were still wet from getting in the car, but by mid-morning, after freezing in the A/C for a couple of hours, I was dry again. It's a good thing I keep a fleece shawl in my office... I was huddling under that for 2 hours or so!
My sister in that western state had a bit of a scare this morning. A Rottweiler that was loose wherever she was walking her dogs attacked them. Her Samoyed Miko was actually hurt, but thank goodness, it wasn't too serious. A HUGER thank goodness it didn't attack HER! She's waiting now to speak with Animal Control, and I hope she pursues the owner paying for the emergency room costs. With the town involved, I would hope it would be easier to get some money from them! I'm not a particularly lawsuit-happy citizen, but when someone is responsible for damage to your property or a family member, they have to pay! Somehow...
I went to Kohl's yesterday and bought three summer blouses, spent $60 and got $10 back in Kohl's cash, so I'll have a bit more shopping to do next week! Here are the blouses I bought:
in white:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1023533/Croft+and+Barrow+Macrame+Tank.jsp
the blue floral:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1114567/LC+Lauren+Conrad+Floral+Tank.jsp
in blue:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1057402/ELLE+Scroll+DipDye+Crinkle+Tank.jsp
I'm wearing the white blouse today, with a pair of khaki cargo capris. I wore the blue floral top yesterday for the picnic with a pair of short white capris made out of a linen-y type fabric with drawstring details at the knees. And I can't wait to wear the other crinkle blue top!
Well, my blogging break is over so I'd better get back to work!
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