Two new books to recommend

While in the car this summer we are listening to several books. Cesar's Way is a great book, not just about your relationship with your dog but people and work as well. John and I learned a lot about handling and taking care of our dog from this book. We also learned some things we were doing right, without knowing!

"Penny from Heaven" is a fantastic girl book. Although, I think Emm enjoyed listening. It's a very funny book for a girl 8+ and parents too. It gets a little suspenseful/perilous in the middle, by the author ties up the loose ends nicely. It takes place back in the '50's, about a girl named Penny and her disfunctional family.

Right now we started a book called "Twilight", about a teen-age girl who is in love with a vampire . . . It's a long book (11 disks) with 2 books that follow and possibly a movie. So far it's a great book with 1 major flaw: the main male character, Edward. This is a dangerous read for young women/girls. Edward is extremely attractive but down-to-earth, highly intelligent, wealthy, perpetually 17 years old, has an awesome car, an awesome body with super sharp reflexes, and an extremely polite and thoughtful date. The only real men who are like Edward are either a. Vampires; b. gay (or gay vampires); or c. abusive to women. The author, however, does refer to this story as "fantasy" . . .
Update: after reading on we find out that Edward is over 100 years old and never been with a woman before . . . that explains quite a bit.
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

Augie's Kids are Back!

We visited Brickworld in suburban Chicago IL on sunday. Kids were positively in heaven. While we were there we bumped into my cousin Eric and his family -- small world. Augie has been spoiled while they older 2 have been at the "Grandkins" house. He can't sleep at night. Evenings are very difficult for him. He keeps asking, "where is Emmerson, my best forever friend?" Very sweet boy. He missed Olivia the first week, missed the Emmer the 2nd week. We found some rare Lego parts that the kids have been looking for and got some ideas for building. Emm has a rather large collection going, but nothing near what some of these folks have.

Augie showcases our new downstairs powder room. We have one of those "production homes" that comes in builder white. John & I find white walls very disturbing. I wanted to paint the downstairs 1/2 bath black, or maybe a dark aubergine. This caused much discussion and I compromised on this faux finish. It's the covered wagon from upstairs hallway with cinnamon stick 50/50 glaze over the top. I hated it, so I went out and bought a star stencil and copper paint. Then John got horribly sick with the flu (4th time I've seen him that sick in 21 years). So, we had the work lights set up in the hallway and paint stuff in the bathroom for a week. Once the glaze dried it looked much better, now I'm a little disappointed with the stars. Painting has been my new hobby for the last 3 years. We lived in a 1000 sq ft mobile home for 18 months (should have started the blog then) then bought a new home. Painted 2/3 of it when my parents decided to "pair down" and we helped paint a lot of their new home. After we finished that we found out John was transferring to Indy and we bought another new house and are over half way painting it. If you ever need help painting, you know who to call! We have an extension ladder, cat walk, 2 paint ladders and halogen work lights. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is on and it's time for another cup of tea!

New Family Member

No more Mannins, we have baby robbins on our front porch. Next to their next is another nest their mother shoved aside to make herself a nest for her babies. The other nest belonged to a set of House Finches that have come 2 years in a row. Mom goes out for worms, returns, and vomits worm goo into their mouths. After 2 weeks, they are standing, stomping their feet and spreading their wings to fledge soon. I don't know what will happen when both Finches and Robbins both nestlings imprint on our house and try to return next spring. The house finches hatched the day we moved in last year (May 24), but came a whole month early this spring. I wonder if the robbins tossed them out? Right now I am enjoying a cup of Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong tea that John enjoyed 2 infusions from before returning to work to run more samples.

I bought a gaiwan last weekend. I started drinking tea this past year and found that I don't drink nearly as much soda as I used to. I also hate restaurant tea, especially the bag-in-box stuff. Gaiwan is used to brew larger, loose leaf tea. It also makes smoother, better tasting tea. First time I used it I burned my fingers, but I am getting the hang of it. It does make much better tea. The purple pot is a regular infuser. I thought it looked cool and didn't expect much from it, but it does a good job brewing also. I need to post my collection later.

Blossom is going to be a very lonesome dog for a few days.

3 Kids and a Hound!

Sunday, June 10 12:31 a.m. This is my first entry. Our children are off at Grandma B's house to spend some time with their cousin, whom they dearly love. House is exceptionally quiet.