I know how you feel, Bella

"Time had not made me immune to its perfection, and I was sure I would never take any aspect of them for granted. My eyes traced over its baked, brown features: the crispness of its edge, the undulations of its middle (promising the treasure within) . . .

I saved its chips for last, knowing that when I looked at them I was likely to lose my train of thought. They were warm, slightly gooey, and shiny with the oven's recent heat. Staring at them (and even more . . . biting into them) made me feel extraordinary--sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also a little lightheaded, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Again."

[With (slight) apologies to Stephenie Meyers, "Eclipse" p. 17]



-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

Hello again Party Month

Every year as late June arrives and July begins, my family enters Party Month. First up is Grace's birthday, then Lynda's birthday, then our anniversary, and then a brief respite before Sarah's birthday closes out the festivities.

And this year, as in years past, things are unclear and ill formed. Even though Grace's actual 7th birthday was yesterday, we are having the party this coming on Thursday (Lynda's actual birthday). I don't yet know what we'll do for Lynda's birthday or for our fifteenth anniversary the following week for that matter. And Sarah's birthday is still a few weeks away . . . so that is to be worried about later.

But, we know we're going to have a few of Grace's friends over Thursday afternoon, going to see a movie, and then reconvening here to have cake, pizza, and gifts. I hope that it all goes well. I'll give a more detailed report once we get it past us.

*****

I can say that the weekend has been nice, active, and relaxing. I got to play a rare game of tennis with old friends on Saturday morning. I guess I didn't play any worse that I ever have and it was nice to spend some time with good friends outside of work and other responsibilities.

We've been out and about with the girls a lot on Saturday--playing in the backyard with sprinklers and water, riding bikes to a local park once the temperature dropped in the evening, playing Monopoly for a long time. And I got lots of reading done on a book that I picked up at the library at the end of the week (book 2 of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy). Catching Fire is quite good and a worthy successor to The Hunger Games. I eagerly await the chance to read book three.

(I just realized that book 3, Mockingjay is coming out in August. Maybe I'll buy it?)

Anyway, its been a good, relaxing weekend. I hope you can say the same.

Last Night's Dream

Here is a description of a work-related anxiety dream if I've ever had one.

*****

It starts in my cubicle at the office. I get a phone call from Neil Patrick Harris' "Barney" character from How I Met Your Mother. Apparently I work with him now . . . or at least he has my phone number. Barney was in charge of procuring a stripper for some office function and, in typical Barney fashion, he has struck me with the task of paying the stripper once her duties were performed. I try to protest, but Barney will have none of it. The stripper is coming over to my cubicle for payment.

(I also feel that there was some sort of ball-related joke here, but my dream brain mercifully decided to omit those details. Just a vague feeling remains.)

The stripper arrives and I awkwardly make payment without looking very much. Luckily, the lights in the office seem kind of dim, so not too many stray glances occur. But the uncormfortable meter is peaking pretty high.

Once the stripper has been paid and has left the premises, here comes the other part of the dream in the form of a World War II-era British military officer. He has arrived at my desk and clearly has something vitally important to ask me. The only thing is, he isn't so good on speaking those demands clearly. What follows is lots of facial gestures, oddly signficant hand-waving, and about one out of four words in a sentence spoken aloud. I am really struggling to get this guys meaning down, but it is increasingly clear that he has previously asked me to do something for him and I have forgotten what it is. His inadequate communications are now preventing me from understanding exactly what I failed to do the first time. And I am growing very tense and frustrated.

After more back and forth, (along with some pointing to a poster of British military aircraft hanging on my cubicle wall) I finally realize that I had been tasked with writing a description of this man's father's actions in World War II in the Royal Air Force to post on a company Web site. And since it was now PAST Father's Day, I had failed in meeting my deadline. And I was full of remorse in the fact that I would now have to wait a full year to adequately meet the request again.

*****

Sigh. Work-related dreams SUCK

How many can you identify?

This image came from this post about a t-shirt with the same design. (Giving credit where credit is due.)

I got 15 correct at first glance and there are some I'm still not sure of (specifically Z, X, Q, P, O, M, K, H, F, C, & B).

Leave your guesses in the comments.

My tech-free weekend

It was an interesting weekend. As you might have heard, I was staying away from technology from Friday night until Monday morning. And it was great . . . except that technology was all around me. And since my family was not restricted to the same limitations as myself, they didn't seem bothered by using it in front of me.

I try not to be jealous as she blogs the day away. She shouldn't be punished for the things that are happening to me, right? I'm not really as envious of her as it might seem in this photo. I promise.

Since I couldn't blog or check the internet or anything like that, I decided to go ahead and make lunch for everyone. (I don't really mind making lunch for people, no matter what this image might make you think. And the tech-free weekend was going along just fine, don't you think?)

The next day (Sunday) we went to the zoo. And normally, I love going to the zoo--even if you can't appreciate it in this photograph. I wonder what is putting me off? Maybe I was just hungry? Or maybe I was disappointed that the polar bear didnt' swim when we went over to check him out? I'm not sure what it was. It surely wasn't my bright yellow bucket hat branded with the worst chili in the world--Skyline Chili. Because, in case you didn't know . . . that is my Official Hat of Summer 2010. So, not the hat, not the polar bear, not the food. Hmm. Maybe something the kids are doing?

Lynda got to have digital fun in my absence. (And really, maybe this will work to my overall benefit because a.) Lynda got to enjoy my iPhone all weekend, b.) a new iPhone is about to be sold, c.) Lynda is going to need a new photo at some point when her renewal date arrives. So . . . maybe all of that equals a two iPhone household? Maybe.

In the end, I survived my tech-free weekend.

Though I don't think I'll bother to do it again anytime soon. The world is a technologically-driven, digital  cornucopia. And I want to cram that cornucopia in my mouth and chew it up.

So be prepared to watch me swallow for many, many more years to come.