Pope Not Pious

I'm not a Catholic but I am lovin' me some Pope these days.  First off, he was a man of the people in Brazil.  He didn't seem to be worried about crowds rushing at him.  Someone on the news said he knows there could be someone out there who wants to hurt him but God is out there too.  I love that.
"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. "You can't marginalize these people."  What?? A Pope said that?  Yes, yes, he did.  Someone affiliated with a church, someone who is powerful, finally said we shouldn't judge gays.  I'm taking that to mean not to judge anyone which I believe is something in the Good Book.
Some extremists would probably say I know nothing about the Bible and maybe they'd be right.  I think I know some things about it though and about God and Jesus.  They said to love one another.  No caveats, no exceptions.  Not love one another but not these particular folks.(choose any minority you wish and insert there)
So I love the Pope.  I hope he represents a change for the better in attitudes toward people who may be different in some respect.  I hope people listen.
One thing is for sure, I bet God and Jesus are up there smiling down on him!

Dogs and Politics

I've been noticing that John Kerry is looking more and more hangdog every time I see him.  I couldn't decide what dog he reminded me of until I watched him on television the other day and thought of this:

See what I mean?  I think our Secretary of State should look a little less.........like a sad dog.  I'm just saying.  It seems he would be much more effective if he looked a little less sorry.
Now, Hillary Clinton never looked like a basset hound.

She  never looked sorry or defeated, maybe old and tired and heaven knows, make up free but she always looked like she was strong.  She made me think of another kind of dog:

Yep, a take no prisoners bulldog. 
Now, Anthony Weiner is another story.  I hate to even compare him to a dog because it is an insult to the dogs of the world.

He is a complete insult to the American people to think he can be a leader after being an admitted sexter.  I couldn't help but think he reminds me of  this dog:

Well, except the dog is smiling. We all know Anthony has little to smile about.
But Weiner is little and yappy and obviously, over stimulated.
Again, let me say, no offense is intended toward any dog, pet or otherwise.  Offense may be intended toward at least one of the humans but I'm not saying who.  Just take a guess.

Mary Worth

Ok, just get out your magnifying glass and read this if you haven't seen it already.  That's as big as I can get it.  I'm pretty sure you can all read it because my old eyes can.
Did I ever tell you how much Mary Worth bugs me?  I think she is a meddling old biddie who should mind her own business.
See that blond girl?  She just lost her husband and she is grieving at a spa.(Now that is a good plan)  Mary noticed her a few days ago and started "cheering her up."  She talked about how she recovered from her grief when her husband died....................like a million years ago!!!!!!!!!!!
That blond girl should punch her right in the nosey nose.  So from good old Mary's advice the blond girl will feel better in about thirty or forty years.  That should really perk up blond girl.
Mary, mind your own damn business. Wow, do I feel better.

Fluffy Clouds

So since I wrote a terrible entry on Saturday.  I thought I'd go the opposite route and talk about something that is lovely.
Today, as I was driving home from the grocery store, I saw a giant cloud ahead.  It was rather low in the sky and the blue sky gleamed above it.  I was stopped at a light and I noticed the cloud looked like a person resting on a bed with one arm raised.  It looked like the person was holding up the sky one handed!  Wouldn't that be something?  If you could hold up the sky with one hand?  Kind of like Atlas shouldering the globe.(Look it up if you don't know about Atlas)
Some days the clouds look so fluffy and dense to me they look good enough to eat.  I imagine they would be soft and sweet and vanilla-y.  You really see a lot of those kinds of clouds when  you are in an airplane.
DH is a cloud watcher but he is never looking for a person holding up the sky or a cow(I did see a cloud cow when I was a kid) he is always looking for weather patterns and rain off in the distance.  When we are at a winery one day, he said, Look at that cloud.
I thought Oh here we go, more rain on the way or the wind is coming in from the southeast.  But no, he said, Doesn't that look just like a bunny?
That's why I love him.  He is full of surprises.

YUCK!!!

A deer pooped in my yard right on a new plant and peed on one and killed it.  I was afraid the little dears, oops, deers would seek revenge but I never thought it would be so gross.
DH is cleaning it up and I only had to see it once but YUCK!!
I don't like yucky stuff.  Garbage is one.  I hate it when it gets so full it is starting to overflow or the smell in the garage the day before pickup day.
Sometimes just talking about something yucky can get me feeling sick.  Especially first thing in the morning.
Sorry but I just had to get this off my chest today. Oh, poop.

By George

Welcome, George Alexander Louis, Prince of Cambridge.  You finally have a name!
It took only a day to be revealed unlike your dad who didn't get a name for a whole week.  You must be happy to know what your name is.
I don't understand why people don't name their child right away.  When  I was pregnant, we chose two names, one for a boy and one for a girl and when they arrived, they had their name all ready for them.
Nowadays(OMG  I can't believe I just said that), parents to be have lists of names and wait to see the baby to see which name "fits" the baby.  If "Mary" or "John" doesn't seem to cut it the parents have alternatives.
I don't know, I just picked names we both liked.  We were all fine with it.  Although, I do admit, the  babies didn't get much say in the matter.  But they both seemed fine with it at the time.  I haven't had any complaints from them in all these years either.
I know my dad picked my name.  I don't know why he loved the name Susan so much but he did and that is what he always called me.  I hated my name for a long time but only because every other girl in school was named Susan also.  In my French class, there were so many of them by the time the teacher got to me and gave me a "French" name, I was Alice.  Emphasis on the last syllable.  I hated that too.  Wish I would have sat closer to the front of the room.
Names are a funny thing.  You can love or hate yours.  Some names get real popular and stay that way for a long time.  Just ask my DD.  Her name was super popular.  Who knew?  I thought it was unique.
Some names go out of style.  Just ask Ethel.
Some names come back in style.  Just ask Mabel.
Some names always mean you are cool.  Just ask Jack.
Some names can stand alone.  Just ask Cher.
Some names are fit for a prince.  Just ask George Alexander Louis.

Apparently, Mickey Mouse and the Royals are buds.
Seriously, though, Prince Cambridge needs a name...and soon.
Since they are buds, he could be named Michael for Mickey Mouse.
They could take a page from Michael Jackson's book and just name him Prince.  After all, he is.
Or they could name him William and like George Forman name all their future sons William also.
We have to wait though and let the parents decide.  Oh, darn!

The Collector

I have a doll collection.  This picture is not it.  I have Barbies, Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, Gene, Betsy McCall and Tyler Wentworth.  I have Mary Hartline and Baby Susie.  Why do I have all these dolls? 
What makes us collect things anyway?  It might be a little of the hoarding instinct that some people take to the extreme.  Hoarding is an illness unless it is controlled, then it is a collection.  See?
Nostalgia has a lot to do with it.  That Mary Hartline doll reminds me of how I loved her when I was about five years old.  I even had a Mary Hartline majorette outfit.  I wore it all the time.  When I researched Mary recently, I found this picture.

 That's it!  She's wearing my dress.

I used to collect cows.  I know why that happened.  I told my Sis that I would like to be reincarnated as a cow.  All they have to do all day is chew their cud and be milked.  Since at the time I was a working mom who was so busy it sounded like the life of Riley to me.   She bought me a cow and the rest is history.  I told my friends the story and they all bought be cows.  I had so many cows it got ridiculous but it still didn't stop.   After someone told me that every time they saw a cow, they thought of me, I announced the end of my collecting.  Really, do you blame me?

I don't collect anything any more.  I guess I don't have any more obsessions.  What?  What do you mean what about all the scrapbooking stuff in the closet and cupboard

up in my "office"??  What stuff?

 

The Waiting Game

Geez, I hate to wait.  Apparently so do the British people and the world's press.  They are all anxiously camped out in front of the hospital where the poor Kate Middleton is in labor.  I feel sorry for the girl.  Nobody cares how long she is in labor or if she is doing all right, they just want to see that baby so pop it out already.  They've been waiting for weeks.
It must be hard to live in a fishbowl like the Royals.  They have to keep calm and carry on and all that.  People always want to take their photo or touch their hand or something.
That poor baby.  I already heard that he or she will be the most photographed person in the world. And the poor kid hasn't even been born yet.  I hope the kid turns out like Suri Cruise who told the photographers to back off and stay away from her.
Now she is a "brat."   I hope the little royal prince or princess has the guts to do the same.  You go, Suri.  And how fun it would be to see a royal brat.  I'm loving the idea already!  Hey, the kid is going to be their ruler some day, they may as well learn respect right up front.

I Scream You Scream

We all scream for ice cream!!!  Happy Ice Cream Day, everyone.
Did I have ice cream? You bet I did. 
Did I drink wine?   Remember the rule??  Wine and dairy don't mix.
Surprisingly, vanilla is the top favorite flavor of ice cream.  It is my favorite for sure.  There are others I like but hands down, vanilla is the best.
Recent "research" revealed that vanilla lovers are far from bland.  We are daring and take risks.  We set lofty goals for ourselves. We like to experiment. We are sure of ourselves. And we are so stubborn, you can never talk us out of loving vanilla.
So, take that, chocolate lovers and rocky road eaters.
My next experiment is going to be vanilla ice cream after a glass of wine.  I'm sure it is going to work out fine. Don't try to talk me out of it!

Time

I spent the evening among friends last night.  Some of them were friends we've known for a long time and some of the newer.  Some of our "Old" friends are some young women I've known since they were born.
They were the cutest little things you ever saw.  They were always in fluffy dresses( the kind with pinafores), they played the piano, they took dance lessons, they marched in the high school band.  And now they are adults.
We were all drinking Sangria and having a great conversation when all of a sudden, time stood still for me and they became those little girls for one more time.  I shook my head and everyone came back to reality(especially me) and the conversation continued.
How lucky we are that these kids still want to spend time with us and so do their significant others.
I thought I was a little crazy until DD told me she looked at the oldest girl (who she used to babysit) and for a second she saw the little five year old she remembered.
Time, Time, see what you've done to us?

Hang Up

For heaven's sake, get off the darn phone.  Yes, I'm talking to you, the lady going 31 in a 35 zone and slowing down even as I creep up behind her.
Call your friend later.
And you, guy driving the big almost-semi truck.  Really?  You could barely make it around the corner but you felt free to drive with one hand and carry on a cell phone conversation at the same time?  Surely, you could have called them later.
Oh, you're not off the hook either, lady who pulled out right in front of me.  Didn't see me did you?  Well, I WAS THERE.  Lucky for you I wasn't on the phone.
All this happened in a 10 minute trip to and from the grocery store.  I'm sure glad I don't drive to work any more.

Headlines

You know those odd headlines I thought were gone?  Well, they are here.  I found them in DH's favorite reading spot.(I'll let you guess)
I love these because they are so bizarre.
The first one tells about a day care worker who was working with a five year old and the child bit another kid.  So did the day care worker discuss it with him and put him in time out?  Nope.  She bit him. Seriously.  She is now a criminal.
Some guy got duped by a naked woman swimming in his pool.  He was so enthralled by her nudity that he couldn't stop looking so her husband robbed the guy while he was salivating...for 20 minutes.  Police have no leads.  The dude cannot even describe the woman! Ha!
Some man in Texas was arrested for the second time for having sex with his horse.  Must be love.
My favorite of the week is that three young women beat a guy up with their shoes because he wouldn't buy one of them a drink.  How many times would I liked to have done that back in the bar scene days?  Hope they were wearing stilettos.

The Life of a Child

How much should a child's life be worth?  A life given for a life taken?  A long prison sentence to live with what you have done?  A million dollar payment?  Community service with young people?  In Florida, apparently the answer is none of the above.
I don't know what happened between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. I just know I don't think anyone should shoot an unarmed child.  Even if he is beating you up.  Even if he is a punk or a thug. No adult should shoot an unarmed child.  I can't say that enough.
I don't know if I think George Zimmerman deserves to die but I do think he needs to have to pay the price for the taking of Trayvon's life.  I find it hard to believe that he had to shoot to kill in order to save himself.  I keep wondering why he didn't just shoot a warning shot or hit the kid in the shoulder or the leg?  Why a killing shot?
I am willing to concede that perhaps George Zimmerman was not a practiced shot or any kind of sharp shooter. That only makes me more suspicious.
Trayvon Martin may not have been a golden child.  Maybe he was even a thug.  I don't know.  I do know he was a child, a teenage child.  He probably had his hood pulled way down and he was probably hunched over a bit as teens tend to do.  He may even have looked menacing. He may have been belligerent.  HE WAS A CHILD!!
There will be a civil suit in this case and we will hear about the whole incident again.  I still won't  pass judgement on either the man or the boy.  I just have to be an advocate for  Trayvon.  He was a CHILD!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the News

I now get an electronic paper every day.  Great! I thought to myself --no more piles of  paper in the family room.  I can keep my own archives right in a folder in my email.
It was such a good plan or so I thought.
I went into the folder today to get some information from yesterday that I wanted to tell you about and Lo! and Behold! when I clicked on yesterday's email--there was today's paper.  What???????  Where is yesterday?  I saved all those emails for nothing?
Sometimes the technology just pisses me off.  It should always work the way I want it to, right?  I can sympathize with those people who call DH for computer support.  They just want the darn thing to work. Period.
I can't get a pedometer that works right either.  Oh, that's not exactly true.  I had a good one and it got lost.  I tried about three other cheap ones but none of them worked.  So I had to get a new "good" one...for forty bucks.  Lost it on vacation.
I tried another two and neither one works right so I have now purchased a wrist pedometer that I am pinning my hopes on.
Anyway, back to the paper.  It runs funny or bizarre stories on Mondays that you may have missed.  I wanted to share them with you but they are out in the trash and it is trash day around here.  I could probably look them up some other way but I want my technology to just work. Period.

#@!***@#*

Well, I'll be darned.  How about that?  All these years I spent thinking I was a shameless broad for having such a potty mouth and it has only meant I am honest and trustworthy.
Maybe  that means that Honest Abe Lincoln and George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington dropped a few "F"bombs in their day.  Now that makes me smile.
I really do swear a lot.  I never mean to and I don't like to use the Lord's name in vain but, other than that, I have no problem with swear words.
I am not exactly sure I know all the swear words there are to know but I know some in other languages like "Merde!" in France.
Don't you wonder who decided that a word was a bad word?  Think about the F bomb.  Why is that so bad?--only because we all agree it is.  I saw The Heat recently and Melissa McCarthy dropped the F bomb so many times that you stopped hearing it.  And boy, was she honest!
I had to laugh when a friend said they have to invent a new word for the F bomb because it is getting to be so common it doesn't have the same effect it did when we were young.
So the next time you want to be honest, just swear.  Trust me, it'll be fine, dammit.

Bastille Day and Something Else

Happy Bastille Day!!  Viva LaFrance and Ooh La La! 
I know Bastille day has something to do with the French Revolution but to be honest I'm not exactly sure what happened.  Something about peasants storming the Bastille which was a big prison.
This revolution ended up giving us champagne and brie cheese so personally, I salute this day!
The real reason for this post is that it is my 34th wedding anniversary.  We got married by a judge in a little city hall and had our reception at TGIFridays and I ate peel and eat shrimp.  I was nervous and excited and late.  DH was nervous and on time.
The judge jingled the change in his pocket the entire time and our former brother in law laughed about it all through the ceremony.  Someone(not saying who) went out of the restaurant to cry.  I will spare you further details of that.
Here we are all these years later and we are going to work in the yard and go drink wine later.  We did celebrate a little yesterday too and found a new winery we can't wait to take our friends to.
DH, it's been a roller coaster ride but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Not even champagne and brie.

That's a Deep Subject

A young friend asked me the other evening, "Sue, what do you think our purpose is here on Earth?"  Well, wowza!  Nobody ever asked me that before.  My first instinct was to say, Geez, how would I know?  But I reconsidered because I know this young friend admires me and apparently, she thinks I know stuff.  So I gave it my best consideration.
Here is what I told her.
I think we are here to have fun.
I think we are here to love our families.
We should learn from our mistakes and try to better ourselves.
We need to take care of ourselves and others.
We need to learn as much as we can during the time we are given here.
I didn't even have to think about it much.  It just came out-- one thing after the other.  Who knew??

Listeria Hysteria

Up until yesterday, I was blissfully unaware of listeria.  I read about it on Facebook and learned all about it from Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.  They post facts for parents that they should be aware of.
Listeria is a bacteria that lives on produce and meat.  You need to scrub your produce and if your meat leaks in the fridge it needs to be cleaned up.  Why anyone would not clean up meat juice immediately is beyond me but whatever.
I didn't even finish reading before I shot out of my seat and ran to the kitchen, grabbed rags, hot water, soap and for good measure, disinfectant wipes and got to work scrubbing out the whole fridge.
I mean I never heard of this before.  I could have had a listeria convention in there.  It took me about forty five minutes but after I was done, believe me, there isn't a bacteria in there!
I found it ironic that something I never even heard of had the potential to make us sick.  There are probably lots of other things I'm unaware of and will hear about some day. 
In the meantime, I hope I don't kill us!

Uplifting

See Sally and Jane?  They are friends.  I heard Jane tell someone on TV a few years back that they had a pact to never, never have plastic surgery and to grow old gracefully--you know, kind of like Katherine Hepburn.

I was so proud of them.  SO proud that they were not going to bend to the Hollywood standard and just be themselves.  Now she never said no Botox mind you but I can live with that.

So imagine my shock and dismay when I saw an ad for the new television show on Oprah's network about stars and their plastic surgery and who regrets it and there was Jane happily saying she had an eyelift or eye bags removed.  I don't remember because I was in total shock.  I was so disappointed.

So far Sally has remained mum as far as I know.  I hope she didn't do it too....but to be honest I think she probably did.

We are so positive that young is better.  Old age is a crime and an inconvenience at least .  It should be totally obliterated.  What we fail to realize is that the baby boomers are all heading to old age faster than a speeding bullet and they are the ones who have disposable cash.  Hopefully, they don't all feel compelled to have plastic surgery.

A family friend of ours had a facelift when she was in her seventies.  No kidding.  She looked rather ridiculous as her face was a smooth and pink as a baby's bottom but the rest of her was still seventy something.  I don't think she thought about people looking at all of her, just her face.

Luckily for Jane Fonda et al, they usually are only photographed all dolled up and mostly just their faces.  So I guess you can suspend your disbelief and just think you look young under those circumstances.  But when those fancy gowns come off, don't you worry, baby boomers, they look just like us.

Gone Girl

This book was the last thing I expected.  I spent the early part of the book flipping back and forth that Nick, the husband, killed Amy, the wife.  I would be sure of it and then something would be written and I'd think oh, no he didn't. Something else would come along and I'd be sure he did it.
I'm not going to talk much about the story because there are so many surprises along the way, I wouldn't want to spoil them for you.
The prose was captivating and the characters were well written.  I kind of hoped all along that Nick would be innocent because in spite of his flaws he was likable. Amy I was not so crazy about as she led us a merry dance throughout the book. Slowly, both the main characters revealed themselves to the reader.
There was extreme behavior that felt totally wrong but yet it was right for the story.  I felt really sorry for anyone who got caught up in this total mess.
I heard that Reese Witherspoon wants to do the movie version so the whole time I was hearing her voice when Amy spoke and imagining her in different scenes.  For me, that was a little distracting.
I couldn't put this book down because I always wanted to know what happened next.  The ending sent a shiver down my spine.
If you're looking for a good read, I suggest you pick up Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Today

I only have one thing to say:

On the Merry Go Round

Sometimes, life is a merry go round.  I have to tell you I no longer can be a rider.  This past week we had three parties, a double date and fixed up the yard for a party we are going to have.
The last thing almost didn't get done because we were exhausted!
Most of the time, I don't feel older.  Wait and you'll see.  I still feel like I am thirty years old and rarin' to go.  This week was a nasty reminder that I'm not.
The craziest part was everything we did was fun.  Wednesday, we went to a cook out and saw fireworks.  Thursday we went to a pool party with our whole family at my Sis'  house.  Friday we went to a winery with Sis and her husband.  Saturday was a retirement party for my WP.   Sounds great doesn't it?
That much fun should make you feel wonderful.  Don't they say it's good to keep busy?
I barely made it through the party on Saturday.
This is what it is like to get old.  Suddenly, you can't do the things you used to do without batting an eyelasth.  And I'm not even that old yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no great advice here or words of wisdom.  As the saying goes, it is what it is.  I just wish it wasn't!

My Favorite Author

I was attending a retirement party for my WP and there was quite a crowd.  My Sis was there too and the most interesting thing happened.
You see, my Sis is an author.  She has written a book called Waiting For Dusk and it is very very good.  You can get it at barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.  It is an ebook or a paperback.  It is a young adult book but everyone who has read it loves it and they have been ages 15 to 85!
I am really proud of her but really didn't understand the impact of being a well-liked author.  It will change her life.
She has fans!  Big fans!  Who loved her and were so excited to meet her because of her  book.  They made a little crowd around her and everything.  Lots of people there had not read her book and now they want to!
I'm not surprised by her success.  As I said it's a very very good book.  I just can't explain the feeling of pride and awe I have for her. There she was at a little retirement party and she was making a personal appearance!  I felt like she was as famous as Angelina Jolie!
It is so exciting and I can hardly wrap my head around it.  I was just about bursting with pride.  I mean, she's my little sister.  We held hands when we were little and had CIB(sorry, our own private term).  Now she's entering a world I knew nothing about and am having fun learning about it.
It's not easy to be an author now.  There is a ton out there.  She has to work hard to get her book known.  I know she will.
The best part of listening to her fans was the  reaction when she said there is another book in the series.  They were overjoyed.  I'm telling you I could have cried with happiness.
If you have a little sister and you think she's annoying or bratty or hangs around you too much, you better think again because some day she may make you so very, very proud.

Thoroughly Modern Susan

I use the computer.  I pay my bills on line. I write a blog.  I shop on line.....I am a modern woman.  Or so I thought until yesterday when I found out I am about as modern as a toothpick.
DH had to go to the emergency room because he hurt his foot and thought it might be broken so while I waited I looked through a magazine.  Did you ever try to look at a magazine in the ER waiting room?  They are so boring or old or ripped up you can't believe it.  Come on, people. Could you cough up the money for some decent magazines at least?
Anyway, I ended up reading Popular Science.  It was all about inventions.  They had an article that said there are more inventions happening now than ever before.  People thought computers would make people lazy but instead amateur inventors are able to get notice because of the Internet.
So  I read about a bike made out of cardboard.  No kidding.  The inventor wants to sell them for 30 bucks and raise enough to offer them free in third world countries.  I think that's amazing.
I also read about a beer syrup you can carry around, add seltzer and ta! da! you have beer anywhere, any time...pretty much.
Then I read about a guy who invented a new Ax.  Guess what, that's not a Paul Bunyon type Ax, it's a guitar with no body.  It works with Rock Star or whatever that Wii game is called or maybe it's on xBox.  Anyway, he thought if kids(and adults, let's be honest) were going to play along they may as well learn some skills too and learn how to really play.  I don't know how it works.  I hardly understood all the jargon.
Last but surely not least I read about a "smart ball" which is not for any sport.  It is a ball that first responders can use that is the size of a baseball and has infra red LED lights and six cameras.  Six.  You just remote it into a pad or a phone and you can look for survivors and it also can tell you if the air is safe to breathe or not.  I really really don't know how that works.
So when I was done, I realized I didn't know squat about the modern world and that I should probably read more science magazines.  My biggest question though was if we can do all that stuff why does it still take 2 and1/2 hours to get your possibly broken foot xrayed and send you home?????

Baby, You're A FIrework

I hate fireworks.  I know it is totally unAmerican of me but it is the truth.  I hated them ever since I was a little girl.  I hate the noise most of all and I hate the crowds that always gather and make it hard to get home when they're over.
Mostly, I hate the noise.
Plus they are usually boring.  Unless you're at Disneyworld.  They have the most beautiful fireworks you ever saw.  They are over the top and for some reason don't seem as noisy as the ones at home.
When we were kids, our family walked to the fireworks.  I really hated that part.  It seemed to take forever.
Then when we were a young family, we used to drive our kids to the fireworks.  It took forever to get out of there because of the traffic.
We saw fireworks at the stadium once and they were set to Beatles tunes.  I laughed hysterically through the whole thing.  I couldn't stop.  I was practically rolling on the floor.  Somehow Hey Jude and fireworks just struck me as funny and that was the end of me.  My sister in law and brother in law were there with us and I'm sure they thought I was nuts.
Last night, we watched the fireworks on television from Washington DC with music and no exploding noises.  That's my kind of fireworks.

Believe it or Not

Yesterday I made brownies to take to my Sis' house for our Fourth of July celebration. I made them last year and they are the yummiest brownies you ever had.
Anyway, I turned my mixer on to cream the butter and sugar and added the eggs.  The next step was to add the cocoa powder and flour...........wait, let me stop there for a little aside.
I watch A LOT of the Food Network.  Giada has told me and Ina has told me and Paula has told me--don't put your mixer on too high or the flour/cocoa powder will get all over the kitchen and you.
Ok, so I turned on my mixer and three guesses, I did not take their good advice and my entire mixer, face, legs, feet, counter top, and floor were covered in a cocoa powder/flour mix mess! 
So a job that should have taken ten minutes tops took almost 45 minutes to clean up!
So believe them when they tell you  Keep the darn thing on low for a while....a long while,
I also see a lot of commercials and there is a paper towel ad that claims one towel cleans up the whole mess.  LIARS!!  It took me about 6 paper towels both wet and dry to finally mop up the mess I made.
So you see some things you can believe and some things you can't!

Spelling Bee

I don't really think about spelling much these days, being retired from teaching and all but the other day I saw a sign in my neighborhood that said English Bulldogge puppies for sale.
Now I don't know about you but I'm not sure I would buy a DOG from somebody who couldn't even spell it.....unless I'm wrong and that's how the English spell DOG.  You know like YE OLDE TAVERN, Ye Smalle Dogge.  However, I don't think so.
But it got me to thinking about those poor kids in the spelling bees.  I have experience being in a spelling bee.  As a fourth grader I was in the all school spelling bee and got knocked out on the first word they gave me.  It was kindergarten.  I spelled it kintergarden.  I was out, not to mention humiliated.  The ironic part is as an adult I  spent 20 years teaching kindergarten!!!  And anyway, everyone knows it's kinnygarden. Right?
You'd think nowadays we wouldn't have to worry about spelling with auto correct and spell check.  Not so my friend.  I once typed didnt into a story and spell check wanted me to replace it with that most common word "dint".  HUH?
My daughter and I were texting and I told her something and she replied with the weirdest comment about about handbag downtown and it turned out she had been autocorrected into it.  It was totally inane and made no sense at all. It was good for a laugh though.
So maybe it's good that those kids in spelling bees have to spell words we never heard of and they will never use again(especially in those National Spelling Bees, I never know any of those words).  We wouldn't want them to be totally auto corrected for life, think of the miscommunication there would be."Hon, please buy milk."
" What do you want with a mink?"
"I don't wait for a mink.  I want milk."
Pretty soon you'd have a who's on first scenario!
Speling is imporant so yew jest haf to now how to do it>  Rite?

Author! Author!

Books are an important part of my life.  I have always loved to lose myself in a good story.  I have a sister who is an author.  I am a book reviewer.  I started a book club.  I have a Kindle!
So, why is there so little time?  I have a book review to write, my book club book to finish and a line up of about a hundred books I would like to read on my Pinterest board.
Since ebooks and self-published books have arrived on the scene, there are just too many choices.  It is so hard to decide what to read and what order to read them in.
I feel a real obligation to the authors whose books I review to read carefully, slowly and think about it as I read.  Sometimes I even take notes when the book is long and has a lot of characters.
I am on the fence about book reviewing.  On one hand, I love telling people about a book I enjoyed.  On the other hand, I sometimes feel like I wish I didn't have to review it at all.  At GoodBood Alert, we don't have to finish a book if we don't like it but if I get wrapped up in the story and the writing just isn't that great or there are too many characters or parts are confusing  I still want to review it but I hate to say those things.
We rate from three to five stars and so far I've not read a five, but I have given a four to a book that probably should have gotten three.  I have a hard  time being a critical critic!
Kids have so many opportunities now to read that parents should be encouraging it even more than ever.  How fun to own a Kindle and download your choices from the library.  I love doing it and I'm a supposed grown up.  Reading a book is at the tip of your fingers whenever you need one.  Just hop on the computer and Voila!
With newspapers and magazines dwindling, books are more important than ever.  And I mean a real book.  One with a cover and pages that you turn yourself.  There is something comforting about that feeling.  You should try it.