Chat & Greetings 2006

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 22, 2006 9:49 am (#1501 of 2979)

Yay for the new floor!--- Catherine

You're not hard to please.---Loopy Lupin

It appears, neither are you.

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Denise P. - Jun 22, 2006 9:50 am (#1502 of 2979)

Time for a group hug!!

I just got an email from one of my running partners, she signed up for the 10K today! Woo hoo, so now I will have Mr. Denise and Rhys with me and my buddy will be about .10 of a mile in front of me.

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Holly T. - Jun 22, 2006 9:52 am (#1503 of 2979)

Denise--laminate floors are very exciting! Especially if you have kids and pets. ;-)

Thora, my husband has a T-shirt that says "Genuine Redhead. Keep out of direct sunlight."

Have a great RotD!

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Jewel - Jun 22, 2006 9:52 am (#1504 of 2979)

I am soooooo sorry Thora! **banging head against wall** I can't believe I did that! I had just finished reading something Madam Pince had written before I posted that. (at least I think I was...)

Anyway, thanks for the info about the Pavilion, I have an uncle down that way in Conway, but I can't seem to find his telephone number.

Oh well, sorry about the mix-up again, have a great ROTD!

Julia

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 22, 2006 10:34 am (#1505 of 2979)

Siriusly (I like it better that way so no sic-ing me) some of the books they made me read in high school were a real waste of time. What kind of a book has a chapter that is 5 words long and states "My mother is a fish"? Oh I know, the kind of book kids get forced to read! Thora

Well the "My mother is a fish." book is still at the very top of my list of the worst books ever written! Note to everyone: Never read "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner......It's terrible, and ridikulusly confusing and not to mention I could sum up exacty what happens in about 4 sentences! I think it was the only book I gave up on half way through, and just stopped reading it, because my teacher had to explain to the entire class what happened the next day in class anyway. It was awful! I don't even think Hermione would understand it!! That seems to be the biggest problem with some of the books they chose for us to read both during the year and for summer reading, wither they are extremely confusing, or their about someone dying, or generally depressing subjects. As my friend put it one "why can't we read a happy book??"

Lina- You are right, no one here watches soccer, or knows any players at all! We are once again, "different" from the rest of the world, in that we have American football to take our minds off of soccer! I really wouln't care if the USA team lost in the 1st round or of they end up winning the whole thing!

Have a great day everyone!

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Madam Pince - Jun 22, 2006 10:59 am (#1506 of 2979)

I have always found her personality to match her advatar, tasteful, wise and delicate.   Bwhahahaha.... my mind control classes are yielding fruit... No, seriously, thank you so much for the compliment, Thora! And the very same back to you!

Mr. Denise is a prince of a guy! I see why you married him, Denise! Good luck in your race this weekend!

Welcome back, Winky! That was a good joke, too -- even if it was an oldie, I hadn't heard it before. Good one!

Sounds like you got your wish, Lina; apparently the U.S. stunk the place up during the Ghana game. Well, as you say, there are clearly better and more deserving teams out there still in the hunt!

...the biggest problem with some of the books they chose for us to read both during the year and for summer reading, wither they are extremely confusing, or their about someone dying, or generally depressing subjects.—Ginny   But don't you see... that's what makes them "great literature!" And gives them the ability to look down their noses at writers like JKR who people actually LIKE to read!

Thank goodness pro basketball and ice hockey seasons are finally over ! Now we can get on with more summer sports. There is just something wrong about ice hockey and NBA when it's 90 degrees outside.

I just realized I probably made a major mistake when I signed Little Pince up for soccer this summer. I had a choice of 10:30am or 1:00pm, and I took the afternoon one -- not thinking back in April about what the temperatures will be like in August. Inexperienced sports mom here.... Oh well. I am debating about a second soccer week, but it costs $40 more than the one we're already in, plus it runs from 5:30 to 8:30 in the evenings, which doesn't sound do-able to me for a 4-year-old. We're doing well to stay on task for an hour at a time, let alone three. Think we'll skip that one.

We're heading to the mountains this weekend to get my Mom for a short visit. Everyone have a great RotW!

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 22, 2006 11:17 am (#1507 of 2979)

Thank goodness pro basketball and ice hockey seasons are finally over ! Now we can get on with more summer sports. There is just something wrong about ice hockey and NBA when it's 90 degrees outside.
Madame Pince, Mr. HH and I just had that conversation the other night! The seasons just run too long! That is probably why American football sustains itself popularity-wise; the season is not too long. Hmmm, so much for attention spans.

Welcome back Winky, and I loved your joke (and no one had to explain it to me)! Inca and Lola are so cute!

Denise, so glad to hear you have company! What a nice guy (though he's now probably muttering to himself - You mean I signed up and didn't have to after all?)

New floors are exciting! You can skate across them with socks!

Maria

EDIT: Madame Pince, heeheehee, now envisioning "mop shoes". Though they'd be tough to rinse and wring out. Once they're dry, yes, you can skate across those, too. But the new ones usually have a fine layer of sawdust which makes for a great slide. Kind of like those table top bowling games with the "cheese" and puck. Hehe, I set such a good example for my children.

LOL M. Pince! You have to DUCK?? That explains the short naps and waking up on the dining room floor.

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Madam Pince - Jun 22, 2006 11:21 am (#1508 of 2979)

But.... you can do that with old floors, too, right? How else do you mop? Of course, the ducking you have to do when you get to the tables sort of takes the fun out of it...

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Good Evans - Jun 22, 2006 11:34 am (#1509 of 2979)

only 50 odd posts but so much in them!!!

Denise best of luck with the run!! Mine is next weekend but I couldn't do 10k!!!

Tazzy, hubby is going to apparate and deal with that spider for you, now that he is a mouse trapper, spiders hold no fear!!!!

Winky - congrats on the premium status.

Virginia Elizabeth and Geauxtigers - commiserations on the internet, but as long as you can get to the forum it can't be all bad!

Gina - your holiday snaps from skeggy are just great (skeggy= Skegness, not very salubrious east coast holiday destination in England - sorry Skeggy!! - but just the place for wizards who want to keep a low profile!)

Oh thats all I can remember, happy days to everyone else
*waves back to Audrey*

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geauxtigers - Jun 22, 2006 11:39 am (#1510 of 2979)

Siriusly (I like it better that way so no sic-ing me) some of the books they made me read in high school were a real waste of time. What kind of a book has a chapter that is 5 words long and states "My mother is a fish"? Oh I know, the kind of book kids get forced to read! No wonder it took JKR to get kids reading again! (Climbs off soap box before she hurts herself.)

That is the worst book in the world. I didn't understand one bit of it! Yeah all the books they make us read are depresssing and have some moral to the story. There are plenty of happy books out there that have good moral themes! I don't think we should get a list of books to read for summer, we should just be required to read 3 books of our choosing. They want to encourage us to read, but their list just discourages because I don't want to read any of if!

Yeah I know one soccer player, somebody with the last name Keller i can't even remember his first name! I did hear they lost today though oh well makes no difference to me!

Laminate floors are awesome! When we put ours down it was pretty sweet. My mom let us spray paint the concrete slab after we ripped the carpet up! so under our wood floors is a graffettied with hot pink spray paint! And my mom is not one to do something that crazy! but now I always run the length of the floors and slide or I twirl! But mom has recently informed me that we are getting a rug to put down on the floor and I'm sad now as I will have to move my twirling and sliding to the foyer or dining room.

I'm on ginny's computer because her internet is working, mines not! maybe we have a bad modem, soon as my dad wakes up I have a feeling the phone company is going to get a couple ear fulls!

Have a great day everyone!

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Gina R Snape - Jun 22, 2006 11:49 am (#1511 of 2979)

Good Evans, I did think of Skegness with that shot. LOL.

Maritza, actually you are right we do have the spanish station on.

So, Lumos is not so far away. I wish I were going. But I'll be in Orlando instead for 4th of July weekend. Anybody here live near Orlando Florida?

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 22, 2006 12:23 pm (#1512 of 2979)

New floors are exciting! You can skate across them with socks! –Maria

I lovee our laminate floors!! Sliding is the BEST!! Except that the new rug should be here any day now

Uhh Well I can't remember anything else I was gonna comment on!

Have a great RotD everyone!

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John Bumbledore - Jun 22, 2006 2:40 pm (#1513 of 2979)

Ever notice how T-ah and Ginny almost say the same thing when they post? It's like they are twins or something! LOL

<)B^D˜ John Bumbledore

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Tazzygirl - Jun 22, 2006 2:51 pm (#1514 of 2979)

Went shopping again with my mom today... hehehe! Actually, this time I just needed to buy ink cartridges for my printer, as I predict this semester will be the start of tons of papers and assignments... **is dreading lesson planning**

OH! I heard back from the College of Education (finally)! I was finally able to register for all my Fall classes- Mondays and Tuesdays I am student teaching in an elementary classroom, and Wednesdays and Thursdays I have classes. I am soooooo excited!! (**Waves to Lina and Kay**)

I have never heard of "My Mother is a Fish** or "As I lay dying"... making mental note not to read them anytime soon...

Good Evans: Tazzy, hubby is going to apparate and deal with that spider for you, now that he is a mouse trapper, spiders hold no fear!!!!

Thanks!! Although I hope I can catch Mr. G.E. before he leaves, as I managed to smack the spider (unsuccesfully at first) with one of my high heeled shoes... it almost landed on my bed, but luckily I managed to get it! (I was also turning blue in the face trying not to scream, as it was passed midnight (I think) and my parents would not have been happy if I woke them up because of a 'little spider'... )

Hope you all have a fantastic RotD/N!

~Kristina

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Catherine - Jun 22, 2006 2:55 pm (#1515 of 2979)

(I was also turning blue in the face trying not to scream, as it was passed midnight (I think) and my parents would not have been happy if I woke them up because of a 'little spider'... –Tazzy

Sometimes screaming is quite therapeutic.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 22, 2006 3:05 pm (#1516 of 2979)

Sometimes screaming is quite therapeutic.---Catherine

I wonder if Blossom agrees.

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Catherine - Jun 22, 2006 3:25 pm (#1517 of 2979)

I wonder if Blossom agrees. --Lupin is Lupin

Exactly! That's how I know!

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Ponine - Jun 22, 2006 3:48 pm (#1518 of 2979)

LOL I remember Blossom the Possum! How is everyone?!? Long time no see I'm cruising through, trying to catch up, but it's nearly impossible.. I'm so jealous of everyone going to Lumos or NY or Colorado to meet up... Sigh.. Why are there no one in the lovely state of North Dakota?!?!? Well, just wanted to say Hi everyone! Have a great one! Hugs, Ponine

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geauxtigers - Jun 22, 2006 4:53 pm (#1519 of 2979)

I have never heard of "My Mother is a Fish** or "As I lay dying"... making mental note not to read them anytime soon...

“My mother is a fish” is the opening line the chapter told by Vardaman in the book "As I lay Dying" by Faulkner! lol no unless you enjoy reading about well someone who has died and how Pa wants new teeth, stay far away! I delightfully colored the front of my book by putting devil horns on the character on front! We had to read this freshman year, aka the dark depressing literature year! Okay I'll stop don't want to sound like I'm the one depressed.

I agree screaming is therapeutic!

Well the Rocket is returning tonight and I must leave for a while and watch the Stros play! on ESPN so everyone should watch and cheer for them!

Later!

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Puck - Jun 22, 2006 5:33 pm (#1520 of 2979)

Okay, I have the sweetest story to share.

Mr. Puck has been out of town for work this week, so I'm alone with 3 small children. Tonight I took them out for dinner. A family of 3 (Mom, Dad, and junior-high-age son) sat across from us. The baby would smile at them, and they would grin back. As I had to sit with the babe, I had to let the other two sit together. (When there were 2 children it was simple to sit between them.) So, I did the "Mad libs" game on the menu, played a sitting game of Simon Says, dragged all 3 to the ladies room just as dinner arrived, as Diva had "to go". Basic juggling and keeping them happy without disrupting the whole restaurant thing. When my check arrived there was a note inside; "Sometimes good mothers deserve a break". The family across the way had bought our dinner. The waiter and I were both teary-eyed with sentiment. It was just so touching, that a stranger would do this for me, just because.

Happy RotD,

Kathy

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 22, 2006 5:39 pm (#1521 of 2979)

awww Puck!! That's sooo sweet!! How thoughtful of them!!

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Thora - Jun 22, 2006 5:57 pm (#1522 of 2979)

Wow, Puck, that's amazing! Isn't it great when we get that rare but honest pat on the back for doing what's right? Being a good mom is hard work, but it sounds like you've got it down pat.

Thora

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boop - Jun 22, 2006 5:59 pm (#1523 of 2979)

Welcome back all returning forum members!! We have missed you.

Denise good luck with your run this weekend.

Kathy that was a cute story, thanks for sharing it with us.

Madam Pince, enjoy your trip to vist your mom.

Waves to everyone!!

hugs always

boop

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haymoni - Jun 22, 2006 6:02 pm (#1524 of 2979)

That is great, Puck.

I remember being at Applebees with The Beautifulest One. She was incredibly well-behaved. There was an older couple across the aisle from us and when we got up to leave, the gentleman complimented me on how good my daughter was and said that not all parents raise their children correctly. I was incredibly proud, but I leaned forward and said, "You caught her on a good day!" - which was ABSOLUTELY true!

Obviously that couple had been in your shoes, Puck. Too cool of them!

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Puck - Jun 22, 2006 6:11 pm (#1525 of 2979)

Funny, my kids were fooling alot, thus all my little table games. (They weren't horrible, but not sitting perfectly.) They used to sit better, when I could separate them. I have had little old ladies come up to me in the grocery store to comment on what a good job I had done curtailing a tantrum.

Young Franenstein is on FMC! (It's already half through.)

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Julie Aronson - Jun 22, 2006 6:17 pm (#1526 of 2979)

Wow, Kathy. Your story gave me a chill. That's so great! Sunshine

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Choices - Jun 22, 2006 6:39 pm (#1527 of 2979)

What a great story Puck and what a wonderful tribute to your mothering ability. Good job - hope you enjoyed your well earned dinner! :-)

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Tazzygirl - Jun 22, 2006 6:50 pm (#1528 of 2979)

**wishing I was around back when Blossom graced Catherine with an appearance** (I also agree screaming is therapeutic... )

Aww. Puck! That was such a sweet story!

Thanks, Tori, on the clarification of the book! I went and bought The Devil Wears Prada today. Hoping to really like it!

Mom and I went to lunch today, and the restaurant got the order of our food mixed up. We received the main course first. Then the side dish came out, and our appetizer came out last. We were a little confused, but not upset or anything. We actually thought it was funny. The manager came over to apologize and told us our appetizer and side dishes were free.

Off to check Potty Five Words...

~Kristina

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Madam Pince - Jun 22, 2006 7:01 pm (#1529 of 2979)

Wow, sounds like tonight was a good night to eat out! Puck, that was just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard. How nice of them, and what a great feeling for you! Good job!

(((boop)))

See you guys next week!

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 22, 2006 8:16 pm (#1530 of 2979)

Wow, Kathy, what a wonderful story! I just love happy endings! This was one of the best I've heard. Thanks for sharing that!

Gina, the avatar is great!

Madam Pince, have a safe trip and enjoy!

Tazzy, when my children tell me they see a bug, I always say, "Don't eat it!" You should see their expressions afterward!

I also agree screaming is therapeutic... Umm, not too sure my children would agree with that.

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Mediwitch - Jun 22, 2006 8:24 pm (#1531 of 2979)

Congrats, Tazzy! Sounds like you will have a busy, and hopefully fun, semester.

Aw, Puck, what a great story! I love those random acts of kindness things.

HH11 - "Don't eat it!" - I love it! Fly Eater

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Puck - Jun 22, 2006 9:10 pm (#1532 of 2979)

when my children tell me they see a bug, I always say, "Don't eat it!" -Maria.

ROTFL!!!

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Denise P. - Jun 22, 2006 10:20 pm (#1533 of 2979)

Puck, we have had that happen to us a few times. It always surprises me because it is rare and it seems to happen on nights when I think the kids are being little rats. Most of the time they behave but when they don't, it is like a shark feeding frenzy. They just feed off of one another.

As for screaming, Mr. Denise has a shirt that says "At 35,000 feet...no one can hear you scream" He parachutes.

Iain made a huge step today, he got brave enough to leap off the deck into the pool finally. Kierynn also stepped forward, she used a regular swimsuit with arm floaties rather than her swimsuit with built in floatation. Woo hoo!

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Lina - Jun 22, 2006 10:31 pm (#1534 of 2979)

Happy birthday to Olivia (HH13) and to Ryan Patrick!

Happy name-day to Audrey!

******waving madly to Ponine****** You are missed.

Kathy, that's a really beautiful story.

Madam Pince, have a good time!

Congrats to Australians, as Madam Pince would say, you deserve it!

It seems that today is quite busy with birthdays. We are not going to celebrate ours today as my hubby is out of town. But the little lady is very excited anyway. She got a new school bag (that we payed $3,5 because it was a leftover from last year) and she likes it very much. And she got my sister's old cellular phone. She hasn't started the school yet, but she is sending messages to all the family already... It is nice when you can make a kid happy with small things.

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Tazzygirl - Jun 22, 2006 11:07 pm (#1535 of 2979)

Maria= ROFL! "Don't eat it!" I love it!

Which reminds me, how can kids (and some adults) eat those suckers given out at museums with the bug inside?!

Happy Birthday to Olivia and Ryan Patrick! (and I think one of Lina's girls?) Hope all of you have fantastic days!

Madam Pince- have a wonderful vacation!

I am also leaving tomorrow afternoon for a camping trip with my dad. I get back Sunday evening... First time I won't have access to the forum on a trip...

~Kristina

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Ponine - Jun 22, 2006 11:14 pm (#1536 of 2979)

Hi Lina!! *Waves back*

It feels good to be back I love hearing stories like Kathy's too -- they sort of restore some of my shaky faith in mankind... And since we're not even in the cup , GO CROATIA!!!

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Tazzygirl - Jun 22, 2006 11:38 pm (#1537 of 2979)

I meant to say Thanks! to Mediwitch in my last post... and I am hoping to have a blast with school over the next two years- with the start of student teaching, it signals that I am almost done with school!! w00t!!! *insert dancing smiley here* I know it's going be super busy, but I think it's going to be a ton of fun.

~Kristina

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Lina - Jun 23, 2006 3:32 am (#1538 of 2979)

He, he, Ponine, too late to say "Go Croatia" (I'm almost glad, no more nervousness in front of TV), maybe it would have helped if you said that a day earlier. But I just liked this cheering photo of Mihaela.

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Julie Aronson - Jun 23, 2006 3:32 am (#1539 of 2979)

Happy birthday to all the Forum kids to whom it applies!



Well, I'm off to try learning some math for my GRE tomorrow. I took a practice test and did great on the verbal part, but came out just above warm monkey on the analytical (maths).

Eeek.

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azi - Jun 23, 2006 4:59 am (#1540 of 2979)

Oooo, lots of birthdays! So, Happy Birthday to Olivia, Ryan and Mihaela!

Good luck on the exam, Julie A!!!

Puck, that story was so sweet!

Welcome back Ponine!

Tazzy, I hope you have a good time on your trip, and I promise to limit my posting on Potty 5 Words.

Back to project writing. I managed about 1000 words yesterday. Now I'm on the results section.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

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John Bumbledore - Jun 23, 2006 6:10 am (#1541 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to all: Ryan P., ._Olivia, and Mihaela. (and anyone else I may have missed!)

I'll be away from computers and the Internet for over a week, so have fun everyone.
Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans!

I'll miss this place while I'm away.

<)B^D˜ John Bumbledore ˜tag-it001

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Puck - Jun 23, 2006 6:13 am (#1542 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to Ryan, Olivia, and Lina's girl! (WHich one is it, Lina?)

Which reminds me, how can kids (and some adults) eat those suckers given out at museums with the bug inside?! I can't even handle gummy worms!

Ummm, a warm monkey, Julie?

Happy RotD,

Kathy

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 6:19 am (#1543 of 2979)

Ummm, a warm monkey, Julie? –Puck

A step up from Troll.

Happy Birthday to Ryan, Olivia, and Mihaela.

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Marie E. - Jun 23, 2006 6:22 am (#1544 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to Ryan, Olivia, and Mihaela!

Kathy, what a wonderful story. I think it's very telling that it's never happened to me and my kids. Actually, last night Lexi got a free sundae at Applebee's. She had gotten bored and was holding onto the booth seat and kicking her legs back. She kicked a menu out of our servers hands (the server was facing the booth behind us). For some reason the server thought she had hit Lex with the menu and brought her a sundae. Not really the same effect as Kathy's story.

Did anyone watch America's Got Talent the other night on NBC? A girl who used to go to my daycare was on. Her name is Alexis Jordan and she sang the Whitney Houston song "I've Got Nothing". She and her family moved out to LA two years ago to help further her career. I recorded her singing on the VCR and played it for the other daycare kids. We're going to write to Alexis (sneaky way to get them to practice writing over the summer).

I remembered another boy/girl name. I knew a girl in Georgia named Bradley Anna.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 23, 2006 6:26 am (#1545 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to Ryan and Mihaela! Love the pics - Denise the baby to kid pics always bring on that Perpetual Ache a bit but it is neat to see how they change but still manage to keep their essence from infancy. He's such a cutie! Lina, Mihaela is so cute - did you help with the makeup?? (I have been trying to scan a pic of my three unsuccessfully.)

Mediwitch, where on earth did you find such a smiley! LOL! That could almost be my icon. (You should see people's expressions when we are in public, one of them sees a bug and I say that. 'Hmm, she has to tell her children not to eat bugs??? What kind of a freaky parent is she? I wonder if I should call Child Services?') Of course, they do believe me when it's Trevor. I wonder if he is part toad?

Kristina, sounds like you are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. I think you will be great at student teaching. I can envision you as one of those teachers that the kids all want to hug at the end of the year and will return to see you long afterward.

Have fun at camp.

Very impressed that you remembered Olivia's birthday! (I can't even remember what I had for breakfast - and it's only 9am! LOL!) Thanks for the wishes. She has just finished opening her gifts.

Good luck on your GRE, Julie and I hope all goes smoothly with the rest of your writing, azi.

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Julie Aronson - Jun 23, 2006 6:56 am (#1546 of 2979)

Thanks for the good luck wishes. Catherine hit it right one the head when she said just above Troll. I guess warm monkey is better than cold monkey, though!

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kaykay1970 - Jun 23, 2006 7:03 am (#1547 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Mihaela, Olivia and Ryan! I hope you all have a great day!

Have fun on your camping trip Tazzy!

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Good Evans - Jun 23, 2006 7:09 am (#1548 of 2979)

Happy birthdays to Olivia, Mihaela and Ryan P!!!

good luck in that exam Julie A

Kathy, are you Mum of the year or what?? you should be really proud of yourself and your kids, what a wonderful display you must have put on, I expect the family thought you were worth every penny for enterntainment value if nothing else! seriously, that was very kind of them and I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed your dinner!!

The sun is shining it is a beautiful day, I have had my hair cut and nails done and sorted out "financial things" this morning gosh what a busy girl I have been, off to sit in the sun, housework done, washing in the machine - all is well with the world!!!!

have a great one all and raise a glass to the weekend!

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azi - Jun 23, 2006 7:19 am (#1549 of 2979)

Have a nice time away, John!

Good Evans - you have sun??? All we get up north is grey cloud!

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Denise P. - Jun 23, 2006 7:20 am (#1550 of 2979)

Thanks for the birthday wishes for Ryan. HungarianHorntail, of all my kids (putting aside Mama bias) Ryan is the cutest. He has deep, dark brown eyes with thick lashes, dimples deep enough to plant tulips in, a beautiful smile and just a gleam in his eyes that has always set him apart. People will look at family photos when I go somewhere and finger him "He is your trouble maker, isn't he?" We call him Rockhead but he is a cutie.

When he was about 6 and Nicholas was 7, they got into an argument about something. Ryan looked at his brother and said "When we are older, I am going to steal your girlfriend!" Our mouths dropped open but you know, Ryan could do it. He has had girls calling him since he was in third grade.

Today is the last day of Girl Scout Day Camp. We overslept through alarms and her ride so I had to dash her down. Somewhere between yesterday and today, Kaitlyn can't find her camp shirt so when I brought her down, she was the only one NOT in her camp shirt.

I need to go get copies of shot records for 2 kids so we can show them to cancer camp when we drop them off on Sunday. We pick Devin up tomorrow and drop off Nicholas, Ryan, Kaitlyn and Iain on Sunday.

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Good Evans - Jun 23, 2006 8:44 am (#1551 of 2979)

lots of sun Azi - its about 24 on the patio but with a breeze that is getting the washing dry - perfect!

Denise - sympathies on the missing shirt - both of my boys lost everything before during and on return from cub / scout camps - those are days I am pleased are behind me - the tour of parents for weeks afterwars to swap items that your darling had brought home. I always used to wash and return but could never get over the Mums who would cheerfully present the muddy garment unwashed that they had identified as not originating in their house!!!

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boop - Jun 23, 2006 9:27 am (#1552 of 2979)

Happy Birthdays to Ryan, Olivia, and Mihaela !! Have a great day!

Good Luck Julie A.

My daughter found out yesterday she is having another girl. So I guess Dustin is my only grandson.

Have a great Friday everyone.

hugs always

boop

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Lina - Jun 23, 2006 9:35 am (#1553 of 2979)

Thank you all for the birthday wishes for Mihaela.

Actually, it was much easier to remember Olivia's birthday than Priscilla's just because it falls at the same day as Mihaela's birthday. As well as Audrey's name-day.

Denise, you are such a super mum in my eyes and a super organized woman that knowing that Kaitlyn couldn't find her camp shirt makes me feel just much more better.

Azi, yay for your project! I know you will do it wonderfully.

Wow, Betty, congratulations to you and your daughter! Enjoy being a part of the majority (women vs. men)!

PS: The make-up on Mihaela was done in the kindergarten.

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Chemyst - Jun 23, 2006 9:42 am (#1554 of 2979)

...one of those teachers that the kids all want to hug at the end of the year and will return to see you long afterward.
It is quite true that I was raised in a different century, (the 20th,) and it is also true that different personalities relate in different ways; but all the teachers I'd most want to return to and thank are...  well, they're dead, but just saying, the ones I'd want to return to see are the very last ones I'd have wanted to hug at the time. They were the ones who were as strict as Minerva McGonagall but in whose classes I learned the most.

about book lists...
Would Harry Potter be less interesting if he were on a required reading list?   I'm thinking, probably yes. When I was assigned an Agatha Christie mystery, I thought it was only so-so.
And now I'm looking for a Civil War novel for my son to read next fall as a high school assignment. (Ironic, isn't it?) Any recommendations will be welcome (either on the Recommended Reading thread or email me, if you think it will clog up the chat thread,) especially if anyone is familiar with The Killer Angels by M. Shaara. “Across Five Aprils” and “Red Badge of Courage” were on my required reading list years ago, so you needn't bother with those!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 23, 2006 9:57 am (#1555 of 2979)

Thanks, Betty, and congrats on the future granddaughter!

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 23, 2006 10:02 am (#1556 of 2979)

I wonder if Blossom agrees. --Lupin is Lupin

Exactly! That's how I know!—Catherine

I miss Blossom the Possum.

Happy Birthdays to all having them and congrats Betty!

Have a good weekend all!!!!

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haymoni - Jun 23, 2006 10:04 am (#1557 of 2979)

Chemyst - What about "Gone With The Wind"? I know all the sappy Scarlett stuff is there, but I was surprised when I read it to find all the historical battle info in there also.

Johnny and Ponyboy liked it!!!

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 10:15 am (#1558 of 2979)
Edited Jun 23, 2006 10:58 am

“Across Five Aprils” and “Red Badge of Courage” were on my required reading list years ago, so you needn't bother with those! –Chemyst

Ooh, Chemyst! I think I may have mentioned this on the Recommended Reading thread, but I loved “March” by Geraldine Brooks, so I'll mention it here as well.

It tells the story of the father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. We see him as a young man before he becomes a minister, and his subsequent marriage to Marmee, his financial losses, and his service in the Union army. He endures horrible emotional and physical wounds in the war, and the novel does not gloss over some of the nastier aspects of slavery.

In the novel one meets Thoreau, Emerson, John Brown, just to name a few.

I'm pretty sure that Brooks won the Pulitzer for this novel. I think it's a terrific book.

EDIT: Yes, March won the Pulitzer in April 2006. In 2005 The Washington Post named it as one of the best fiction works of the year.

EDIT #2: Here is where I mentioned Geraldine Brooks's books (ooh, rhyme) in April.

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Holly T. - Jun 23, 2006 10:56 am (#1559 of 2979)

Chemyst, “The Killer Angels” is a fabulous book! It was one of the assigned books when I took a Civil War history class. I love it. I have “March” in my bag to read on the plane. There's another good novel about the Civil War in Missouri called “Enemy Women” by Paulette Giles about a woman whose father is thrown in prison and how when she goes to rescue him she's imprisoned as a Confederate spy. It's a really interesting perspective on a different part of the Civil War--much of Missouri spent the war under martial law and a good percentage of the population spent time in prison.

I am supposed to be packing! I am leaving for vacation tonight!!! AND I still have to go to the store...

Will try very hard not to check in again until I get back. :-)

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Good Evans - Jun 23, 2006 11:01 am (#1560 of 2979)

congratulations on your expected granddaughter Betty, what lovely news Have a super holiday Holly

Julie x

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Tazzygirl - Jun 23, 2006 12:04 pm (#1561 of 2979)

Azi: I promise to limit my posting on Potty Five Words.

hehehe! Nah- you all can post away! (Just don't finish the story! )

Maria: I can envision you as on of those teachers that the kids all want to hug at the end of the year and will return to see you long afterward.

Thank you! My mom is one of those teachers, and is my role model. I really hope I am one of those teachers!

Thanks, Kay!

Cngratulations, Boop, on the new granddaughter!

John- have a wonderful vacation week! See you when you get back!

Off to check Five Words one more time, and then I need to pack...

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

~Kristina

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 12:06 pm (#1562 of 2979)

I promise to limit my posting on Potty Five Words.—Azi

Sorry, but that's ten words!

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Gina R Snape - Jun 23, 2006 12:17 pm (#1563 of 2979)

This might be more interesting to a girl, but what about Iola Leroy?

http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4398

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Puck - Jun 23, 2006 12:54 pm (#1564 of 2979)

The only war-related novel I remember reading is “Johnny got His Gun.” I believe it was set in WWI or WWII.

Congratulations Betty! That's like our family. Out of 6 grandchildren, my son is the only boy.

Lina, I agree. I makes me feel much better knowing there are moments of chaos and disorganization in Denise's home.

School is out. Hubby is coming home. Diva is feeling better. (She awoke at 5:30am with a fever, and got sick on the3 coach at 6:30.) Ahhh, Friday.

Happy Vacations to all those taking them!

Kathy

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Winky Woo - Jun 23, 2006 1:02 pm (#1565 of 2979)
Edited Jun 23, 2006 1:45 pm

Happy Birthday and Name dayto all those celebrating! Congrats to Boop, on the new granddaughter.

I am thinking of our French friends as I type this....COME ON FRANCE! They are playing so nervously! Allez les bleus!(SP/)

Love Winky x

Edit: The French have scored twice! It looks like they are through!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 23, 2006 1:28 pm (#1566 of 2979)

Well for starters Happy Birthday to everyone to whom it applies!(yesterday was my cat's 4th b-day!)

Okay so we finally did it- the Jeep now has a bunch of large scratches going down the entire side of it due to the bush Tori decided to hit this morning! I’m shocked it was her fault, really because I figured I'd be the first to inflict some sort of physical damage to it(and most people would probably agree!) But anyways, we just finished washing it and cleaning out the inside(ahhhh!) so it's all nice and clean with a big scratch! But dad went out and bought some stuff that's supposed to fix it.....that's going to be one intresting task for him as he probably won't read the directions and end up mad and cussing. ahhh gotta love him!!

off to check 5 words! so I'll just say BING! for good measure!

Puck, I hope Diva is feeling better!

have a great RotD everyone!!

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geauxtigers - Jun 23, 2006 1:40 pm (#1567 of 2979)
Edited Jun 23, 2006 2:24 pm

Happy birthday to everyone! TGIF!!!!!!

Okay so I can explain the scratch! These people we babysat for this morning are tearing up the back yard so there was a pile of dirt on their driveway, well I drove in between the dirt and the bush with no problem, then the lady comes out and tells us to park on the street. Well lets just say backing up was much harder than going forward and now there are several large white scratches on my car! Not to mention the car is black so its extra obvious... I'm not having a great day especailly after being out in the heat for an hour washing it. Ginny can't act all innocent she has clipped more curbs than I can count!

The Astros also lost last night which doesn't improve things either...

Well I'd better be off before the internet crashes on my I want to check the other threads... We'll see how far I get!

Hope Diva gets better! I know I've missed a few things but its hard remembering stuff from 34 posts!

Have a great weekend!

EDIT It just had to happen sooner or later.- Lina, that is exactly what my mom said! My dad just put some scratch stuff on them and its much better, it took the white away so it looks black now but you can still tell they are there but you have to look closely!

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Lina - Jun 23, 2006 2:21 pm (#1568 of 2979)

Well, Tori, congrats for the first scratches! It just had to happen sooner or later. It happened to everybody. Only now you can say you are a real driver! There is no need to crush the whole car to be able to say that you are a real driver. Few scratches are just fine.

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The giant squid - Jun 23, 2006 3:35 pm (#1569 of 2979)

*gasp* Finally made it to the end... It's only been a couple of days but there were over 140 posts waiting for me! Yeesh, you people get chatty sometimes!

I swear these things are getting bigger each time I see them...—Tazzygirl

There was a subplot on an episode of Babylon 5 where one of the main characters kept seeing a bug in his quarters. At one point he asks one of the others, "If you see something this big, with eight legs, let me know. I have to kill it before it develops language skills." It might not seem so funny on paper but the delivery made it hilarious!

There is just something wrong about ice hockey and NBA when it's 90 degrees outside.--Madame Pince

I don't have a problem with basketball, but I just can't follow hockey anymore. It was over 100 degrees outside (38 Celcius) here during the Stanley Cup finals... Hockey is a winter sport; even excepting regional differences June is far to late in the year to be playing it, IMHO.

They want to encourage us to read, but their list just discourages because I don't want to read any of if!—geauxtigers

I have three words for you: Grapes of Wrath. I was forced to read this (literally forced--I was against it all the way) my sophomore year in high school. It was by far the most boring book I've ever read. There's an entire chapter about a turtle crossing the road, for heaven's sake! "Bartleby the Scrivener" was another maddening choice. If I weren't already an avid reader by then those books probably would have pushed me away for good.

I think "required reading" is what's hurt the literacy of US schoolchildren the most. Telling someone that they have to read something because it's a "classic" just pushes them away from literature. Let them read something they're interested in and you'll be amazed at the spike in comprehension, vocabulary and volume of books read!

Happy birthday to all who qualify.

(((boop)))

Tori, I was actually relieved when I got a scratch on my car. It was the first one I'd ever bought brand new so I was walking on eggshells all the time. Once that first scratch came along I could relax & just drive it. Not quite the same as your situation but I felt like sharing anyway. I'm glad your parents aren't getting bent out of shape about the whole thing.

--Mike

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 3:51 pm (#1570 of 2979)
Edited Jun 23, 2006 5:58 pm

I think "required reading" is what's hurt the literacy of US schoolchildren the most. Telling someone that they have to read something because it's a "classic" just pushes them away from literature. Let them read something they're interested in and you'll be amazed at the spike in comprehension, vocabulary and volume of books read! --Squid Mike

You know, that's interesting that you should say that. The school where I will begin teaching 7th grade Humanities this fall has eliminated the "summer reading list" for the middle school, and instead presented the students with a list of "recommended reading." The list is actually quite good, and encompasses a lot of popular young adult fiction as well as accessible classics. Students will have the option of earning extra credit at the beginning of the school year by writing papers on their summer reading.

I can't say I blame them students for rebelling. Last year (when I subbed at the same school in 7th grade for the first marking period and had to listen to student complaints about the "required reading") I couldn't really disagree with the students. Had I been consulted, I would NOT have made those selections "mandatory." Just because the 7th grade social studies focuses on "non-Western cultures," they made the students read an unholy amount of Rudyard Kipling, which to the eleven and twelve year-olds I taught, was a complete yawn (No, I didn't teach the literature, as no one bothered to tell me that they were to have read it over the summer). I sat down the other day and tried to read Kim *no relation to Lupin is Lupin, naturally!* and thought, "Why would I assign this? Just because it's been done before?" In the end, I chucked it, and I've picked other novels about India and Africa.

Trust me, I feel the pain about "required summer reading." I won the Senior English award at my high school, but I flunked the first test back from the summer because I was required to read Jude the Obscure, and I found it....obscure. I didn't even want to shell out my hard-earned cash by buying the Cliffs Notes. At my high school, we had an unholy amount of Thomas Hardy, and by senior year, I just wasn't hardy enough. You could not pay me money to revisit Return of the Native or The Mayor of Casterbridge, never mind poor Jude.

Rant over.

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geauxtigers - Jun 23, 2006 4:04 pm (#1571 of 2979)

I think "required reading" is what's hurt the literacy of US schoolchildren the most. Telling someone that they have to read something because it's a "classic" just pushes them away from literature. Let them read something they're interested in and you'll be amazed at the spike in comprehension, vocabulary and volume of books read!

I agree completely! Reading is much more enjoyable when I don't have to read it! I never planned on reading Grapes of Wrath historical novels are not my cup of tea! Freshman year we read Lord of the Flies, As I Lay Dying, and Macbeth Last year was equally as bad! The second worst book ever written is the Scarlett Letter. The only book I didn't finish last year!

Yeah I thought my mom would be upset, but I think she felt bad because I was pretty upset myself!

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 4:39 pm (#1572 of 2979)

Okay, I'll defend the Scottish play.

I really do like Shakespeare, and I was most unfashionable by majoring in Medieval and Renaissance Literature in college. See my email addresss (Katespeare) for a pun on Shakespeare. I believe it was Prefect Marcus who figured out my name, and delighted in recognizing the Shrewish Kate.

Heck, even Harry Potter includes Shakespeare allusions..."The Weird Sisters" and the whole song from PoA that comes from MacBeth "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble..." Not to mention prophecies, where the exact wording really does matter...Not to mention murder most foul...it's all good.

I think As I Lay Dying is a tough call for 9th grade, although we were forced to read Great Expectations. I like Lord of the Flies, though. In the school in which I will be teaching, they do that in 8th grade.

They teach Huxley's A Brave New World in 9th grade, which I do not agree with, but I do like the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird.

So even English teachers don't always agree amongst themselves!

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Chemyst - Jun 23, 2006 4:56 pm (#1573 of 2979)

Okay, I'll defend the Scottish play. ~ Catherine

See? You called it a play and not a book! THAT, m'dears, is the key to liking (or at least tolerating) Shakespeare. It is best performed, and if that is not possible, then at least read aloud. Silent reading of Shakespeare gets the pacing all off (unless you are really used to it) and that drags it down.

PS  Thanks to all for the Civil War novel suggestions.

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geauxtigers - Jun 23, 2006 4:59 pm (#1574 of 2979)

lol Catherine! Macbeth wasn't bad, it was just difficult to read! "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" is great! I got to read that out loud in class with two other people! lol!! We did Romeo and Julliet in 8th grade along with to Kill a Mockingbird. I liked Mockingbird, I keep saying I'm going to read it again. Lord of the Flies wasn't bad either, but I don't see myself reading it again anytime soon. I'm just saying they aren't the happiest of books in the world and sometime it just frustrates me! Great Expectiations is one of the few on our Summer Reading this year.

Shakespeare. It is best performed,

A few years ago, we did a play at school... I think is was called Shakespere something abridged. I can't remember exactly but they basically took all of Shakespere's plays and put them in briefly and very quickly. It was hilarious and on top of all that the entire cast were wearing converses! It was one of the better plays the schools done.

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 23, 2006 4:59 pm (#1575 of 2979)

I absolutely think they should just do away with summer reading all together. If it's a classic, then fine, I'll probably read it when I'm older. The problem with all of these "classics" is that half of them are written in "old English" so it's hard to understand what's actually going on in them, much less enjoy them, As Lay Dying and that whole stream of consciousness writing being a prime example! I can remember my teacher spending a full hour trying to explain 2 paragraphs in that book(the one where it's like "and then she was and it wasn't but then it was and she wasn't ... it was insane!!)! I like what they do at your school Catherine! I'd probably read over the summer if i could chose the books. Ok sorry rant over!

have a great day everyone!

*wishing Kristina the best of luck for a bug-free camping trip!*

Edited to add: I loved To Kill A Mockingbird, it's way up there on my list, Lord of the Flies is ok, not something I'd usually read, but I didn't find it at all tourturous to read! One of my favorites that we read this yar was The Great Gatsby. That's a classic in my mind! I agree with Tori, Shakespeare is good, just difficult to read. We read Macbeth and Romeo and Julliet outloud in class and it was actually quite fun!

Edit 2: Tori the play I think was "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare-Abridged" just thought I'd add that!

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haymoni - Jun 23, 2006 5:00 pm (#1576 of 2979)

The only required reading I ever had was "1984". I graduated in 1983 and Miami University wanted its incoming freshman to read "1984" so that we could discuss it as an ice breaker during orientation.

Apparently scoping out all the hot guys was not enough - we actually had to talk to them about something. I think I was the only one that read it. It really creeped me out. The book I mean.

I wonder if watching the movie first would help somebody read the book. A number of Forum members read HP because they saw the first movie. Take your reading list to the video store and see what they have. That way, you'd know where the story was going and you wouldn't get bogged down so much.

The movie "Grapes of Wrath" is a light-hearted romp compared to the book!

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Regan of Gong - Jun 23, 2006 5:02 pm (#1577 of 2979)

Year 9, or 9th grade as you call it, we read Lord of the Flies. Didn't mind it really, but I don't think it was as brilliant as everyone said. We read To Kill a Mockingbird this year, Year 10, and did the film study as well. AS extension work,, some of us read Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. It was quite an interesting read, the end bit was quite sad though. Still, I recommend it for anyone of 9/10 grade level. I think we do MacBeth later this year.

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Denise P. - Jun 23, 2006 5:12 pm (#1578 of 2979)

Ugh, two books I was required to read for AP English in high school was The Great Fitzgerald and The Scarlet Letter. The way the instructor had us read and analyze these books ensured that I detest them to this day. Of course, I didn't like the instructor and I had him half the time in AP History as well. Ugh!

You know, to this day when I read Shakespeare, Mr. Denise finds it amusing that he can hear me whispering words since I read it out loud but almost inaudible. I can't just read it, I have to hear it.

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geauxtigers - Jun 23, 2006 5:24 pm (#1579 of 2979)

LOL Denise, we read Gatsby and Scarlett letter this year, we "analyzed” them, but I didn't pay attention. I like Gatsby, and I have no clue why because its really just a randomly weird book. I too despise the Scarlett Letter, I wanted to chuck it in the fire every time I opened it, or put each individual page through the paper shredder! Sometimes I wonder if teacher enjoy listening to us complain about the books they make us read... Well they did one thing right, I'll never forget any of them!

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 5:47 pm (#1580 of 2979)

See? You called it a play and not a book! THAT, m'dears, is the key to liking (or at least tolerating) Shakespeare. –Chemyst

Indeed! Good performances are key. I liked that we watched performances with Patrick Stewart. *raises eyes heavenward in appreciation* Also, I had a leading Shakespeare scholar as my teacher, and his passion infected us all.

My students in seventh grade asked why my email address had "Shakespeare" allusions in it. Once they figured it out, they groaned in horror. I pulled a script of a play and explicated it in class, after getting faux promises that they wouldn't "rat me out" to the administration for showing them something "dirty." They adored Katherine's and Petruchio's spats, and realized, without me saying so, that it reminded them of the movie Ten Things I Hate About You.

One of my students said, "He makes dirty jokes just like the movies! But you've got to understand it." I did not disagree. Another student said, "So you like that--now I get it." While I like Shakespeare for his bawdy humor, I do appreciate the other things! I hope I at least laid a foundation of curiosity. I told my students that I would be happy to discuss the plays if they watched them.

That said, the administration of my school does not seem to support me teaching Shakespeare in 7th grade, even as a "Top Ten Hits" or "Excellent Selections" kind of thing. Too bad.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 23, 2006 6:23 pm (#1581 of 2979)

You could not pay me money to revisit Return of the Native or The Mayor of Casterbridge, never mind poor Jude.---Catherine

Loved Return of the Native.

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Catherine - Jun 23, 2006 6:55 pm (#1582 of 2979)

Loved Return of the Native--Lupin is Lupin. Natch.

Then you were paid money.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 23, 2006 7:03 pm (#1583 of 2979)

Then you were paid money.---Catherine

They say knowledge is priceless.

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Mediwitch - Jun 23, 2006 7:08 pm (#1584 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to all! Birthday

Maria, check out Smiley Central for lots of fun smilies!

Chemyst, a couple more late CW recommendations: The Killer Angels is an excellent read, as is Jeff Shaara's The Last Full Measure and Gods and Generals. (Jeff is Michael's son.) I had a really good CW fiction by Shelby Foote, but I loaned it to my brother and I can't remember the name. I can recommend lots of good CW nonfiction! My last obsession before HP was the American Civil War.

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timrew - Jun 23, 2006 7:30 pm (#1585 of 2979)

Return Of The Native, I must admit, gives me palpitations. To me, Hardy was so verbose! It was a case of, "Why use a hundred words when ten thousand will do!"

But Shakespeare. Now, he could write.

He is my favourite author, alongside John Steinbeck, Roald Dahl and Laurie Lee.

Hemingway just loses it for using "Thees" and "Thous"...................

Just a little opinion..........but my own...........

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Puck - Jun 23, 2006 8:01 pm (#1586 of 2979)

We never had summer reading lists. That's probably why I don't know many of the titles mentioned. Perhaps students should help select books for the lists. As an adult I appreciate books I never would have enjoyed in high school -East of Eden, for example. And for some reason I more readily read a novel because Oprah says I should than I ever did on a teacher's "request".

Shakespeare is great!

Catherine, A Fine Balance is an excellent book set in India, though parts aren't appropriate for junior high. It just gave me some real perspective about what it's like to live in another part of the world.

Sorry about the jeep, Tori.

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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Ponine - Jun 23, 2006 8:06 pm (#1587 of 2979)

Puck -- I'm so glad you mentioned Oprah I recently read the Poisonwood Bible, and I thought it was really awesome -- I haven't really that many of her picks, but all the ones I did read, I really enjoy. Have a great RofE, all!! Ponine

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Puck - Jun 23, 2006 8:17 pm (#1588 of 2979)

**waves to Ponine**

I didn't read that one. Just a few of her picks. They do tend to be depressing and heavy, so I need something different now and then.

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shepherdess - Jun 23, 2006 10:06 pm (#1589 of 2979)

Speaking of Oprah's recommendations, I also read The Poisonwood Bible (last year while waiting for HBP). I think maybe sometime I'll read it again, but this time I'll read all the chapters written by one person, then all the chapters written by another person, etc. I think that will be an interesting way to really see the development and changes each character went through without having to take a break from that character to read chapters about/by the others.

I also read The Lovely Bones, which was oddly interesting. But due to the violent and gruesome nature of the girls' death and disappearance, I would not recommend this for younger readers.

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Elanor - Jun 23, 2006 10:45 pm (#1590 of 2979)

Thanks for the nameday wishes! And belated (or not yet belated) happy birthday to everyone celebrating one!

Winky Woo: "COME ON FRANCE! They are playing so nervously! Allez les bleus!(SP/)"

Perfect spelling Winky! Truth to be told, I don't watch the matches (I do prefer rugby to soccer) but still glad the team qualified for the next stage of the event. Admittedly, it is impossible not to know the results of the matches, you'd think there is only soccer in the news here those days! Every little cramp, grimace or possibly angry look to the coach is analyzed and commentated for hours, LOL! I just wish they would stop saying Zidane (the most famous French player) is getting old every five minutes: a guy born in 1972 can't become "old", the only thing he can do is to improve as time passes. It is just like good wines, only a matter of vintage, hehehe...

**waving to everybody**

Audrey

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Lina - Jun 24, 2006 1:44 am (#1591 of 2979)

Talking about Africa, my kids really enjoyed the In Desert and Wilderness by Henryk Sienkiewicz at the age of 12. Talking about Asia, I think I liked to read Pearl Buck as a teenager.
Having one child that struggles with reading, I must admit that some of the required books have helped her develop more love for the reading. So, I'm not about to complain about the reading assignments in our schools. It is the high school reading that can be a real pain sometimes and a real pleasure at some other points. They have to read few works from each period of literature, starting with ancient Greek in the first (9th) grade and ending with recent works in the fourth (12th) grade. I ended up buying many books that I borrowed in the library and read first, when I was in the fourth grade.

LOL, Audrey, my hubby is very upset by those aging comments too.

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Snuffles - Jun 24, 2006 3:07 am (#1592 of 2979)

Phew!! I have just read the last couple of days chat. When I logged on there was 644 posts to read and I just couldn't manage that!!

Happy belated birthday to Ryan, Olivia and Mihaela, and anyone else I have missed over the last couple of weeks. Also, cheering charms and good wishes to anyone who needs them!!

Had a fantastic time in Spain. Weather was superb. We hired a car from Malaga airport to our apartment, and during the week I lost count the number of times I sat in the drivers seat rather than the passengers!! I just can't remember they drive on the other side to me!!!!

Of course I managed to get sunburn on my shoulders. I put enough cream on, why does it keep happening!!!! Livvy is now just a darker shade of pale!!

Off to check the rest of the threads. My finger is poised on that magic button

Have a good day everyone

Julie

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Amilia Smith - Jun 24, 2006 3:41 am (#1593 of 2979)

Mmmm . . . I loved Pearl Buck's The Good Earth. I think it was an Oprah selection too. One of my coworkers read it based on Oprah's recommendation, and hated it. She was amazed that I liked it. You just have to remember to leave your western sensibilities at the door when you open the book. My coworker couldn't get past Wang Lung's attitude towards women long enough to get like him as a character. But that is one of the things I liked most about the book. It didn't try and force 20th century American ideals into a culture where they don't belong. That's just the way it was, and Buck does not try to justify it or condemn it.

I had a similar experience reading Gone With the Wind. Slavery has never been something I could understand. How could anyone in good conscience own another person? But when I read Gone With the Wind, that's just the way life was.

I agree with the comments about reading lists being evil. Even when good books are assigned, the fact that you have to read them takes the fun out of it. On the other hand, I do believe that there are some works that ought to be read and that will give a greater enjoyment to life. There should be a way around this conundrum . . .

Also agree about watching Shakespeare as opposed to reading. I had a wonderful 11th grade English teacher, and that was her philosophy. We watched a BBC production of Macbeth in class, and if we wanted to do Shakespeare for a book report, we were expected to either watch a play or rent a movie. I will be eternally grateful to this teacher for that. When I watch a Shakespearian play, I never understand the first 15 minutes or so. Then, it is like my brain suddenly kicks into gear and I understand everything after that.

So now I'm curious, Ginny and Tori. What else besides Metamorphosis and Great Expectations is on your list?

Welcome back, Julie! Glad you had a great time in Spain. On the sunburn front, I feel your pain. I am currently peeling. :-)

Mills.

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azi - Jun 24, 2006 3:44 am (#1594 of 2979)

Welcome back Snuffles! See you on Potty 5 Words soon!

Geauxtigers and Ginny - you mentioned The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - abridged a few many posts ago. I have seen that play performed by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and it is one of the funniest performances I've ever seen! I mentioned that I saw Completely Hollywood at the theatre earlier this week - that's by the same company. I'd recommend that if you can see it done in the theatre you go! Just don't sit in the very front rows.

I love Shakesphere's MacBeth. Not keen on Henry V (or was it the IV?). I agree with what has been said - forced school reading ruins your view on books. I hate most of the books I had to read in school - Of Mice and Men, Shirley Valentine, Twelth Night, Romeo and Juliet, various Charles Dickens Books (I forget what...)...anyway, you get the picture... It's those books that put me off reading, until I found Harry Potter. Before I had to read certain books in school, I spent most of my time reading. Even now, I avoid 'classic' books like the plague. Now I'm in university, my reading for the holidays is Environmental Chemistry. I can cope with that.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 24, 2006 4:56 am (#1595 of 2979)

Catherine, your undergrad specialization is the plan for my MA! I could read Chaucer all day long. In fact, I have! Plus, I'm very excited to take Shakespearean Drama in the fall--woohoo!

As far as summer reading from high school, I liked most of it, but to this day I can't look at anything by Dickens or Steinbeck. I learned in 7th grade that 29 years was too many for Stephen Crane to have lived.

However, I loved Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace, (I still buy copies of that one and leave them places,) and Lost Horizon. Summer reading doesn't have to stink!

As far as abridgements, last time I was in LA, I saw Star Wars in Thirty Minutes. It was HILARIOUS. I was frankly amazed at how cleverly they fit everything in.

Well, off to my GRE. I'll be back in five hours, probably with a greatly diminished ego. Hmm

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Catherine - Jun 24, 2006 5:44 am (#1596 of 2979)

Well, off to my GRE. I'll be back in five hours, probably with a greatly diminished ego.

Good luck! Hope you get all O's!

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Puck - Jun 24, 2006 5:52 am (#1597 of 2979)

Welcome back, Julie!

Happy testing, Julie Aronson!

I signed the kids up for a reading program at the library. You can record your reading by the book or by the clock. (We chose the latter, coloring in 15 minute "pies" until we get to 20 hours.) They also have an option that you have to complete certain reading "tasks", such as "read in the shade of a tree" or "read a mystery". I think it's a nice solution to summer reading lists. Save the classic must-read-no-matter-how-painful-it-is books for during the school year.

Happy weekend!

Kathy

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Lina - Jun 24, 2006 6:23 am (#1598 of 2979)

***Waving to Julie (Snuffles)**** I'm glad you had a wonderful time, although it was expected.

Good luck, Julie Aronson! I'm sure you'll do great!

I like the task - read in a shade of a tree.

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Mrs. D. - Jun 24, 2006 8:05 am (#1599 of 2979)

I too hated being forced to read in school, but was an avid reader on my own. I couldn't stand anything by Dickens in High School, but now have read several of his works repeatedly. Funny how that happens.

Geauxtigers- I too read (performed from memory) the "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" part aloud with two others in high school. I honestly loved that experience!!

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Mediwitch - Jun 24, 2006 8:30 am (#1600 of 2979)

Julie A - Good luck on the GRE! I'm sure you'll do fine. I'm also glad I won't have to take it again. My verbal and analytical scores were fine, but the quantitative ! Maybe that's why I like Jo so much - she's not good at "maths" either!!

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Winky Woo - Jun 24, 2006 8:47 am (#1601 of 2979)

Elanor

Your comments reminded me of when I was traveling in South America and watching a football match on local Argentinian TV. Mr Winky, despite being Dutch, follows "La Liga" (Spanish Football/Soccer)and I thought I was hallucinating when I kept hearing "'Arry Potter", but Wilm explained that Zidane (Or Zizou )was known as "The Wizard" hence the nickname by the commentators!

Julie, I am a little late but (*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(good luck and brainy type charms)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)

Have a great ROTD/N Everyone!

Love Winky

x x x

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Puck - Jun 24, 2006 9:33 am (#1602 of 2979)

**wonders if I am alone in the fact that I always scored higher on the math section of standardized tests and dreaded the verbal portion?**

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 24, 2006 10:03 am (#1603 of 2979)

So now I'm curious, Ginny and Tori. What else besides Metamorphosis and Great Expectations is on your list?

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen; Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte; A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess; The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie; The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde; In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, Elizabeth George; Rebecca, Daphne DuMaurier; An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, P.D. James; The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka; Blandings Castle, P.G. Wodehouse; The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, Howard Pyle; Dracula, Bram Stoker; Jeeves in the Morning, P.G Wodehouse; Great Expectations, Charles Dickens; Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy; Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart; The Complete Father Brown, John Chesterton; Irish Mist, Andrew M. Greely; The Commitments, Roddy Doyle; Cambridge, Caryl Phillips

**sorry if this is a bit much, I just copy/pasted it from the website because i was too lazy to type any of them!!**

Good Luck Julie A.!

Well I'm off to Whole Foods with my grannie and my mom...*hoping we can sneak to some of the other stores instead*

Have a great RotD everyone!!

EDIT: the list copied weird, but the author is the second name!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 24, 2006 11:00 am (#1604 of 2979)

OK. I lived, ego relatively intact. I guess I'll find out for sure in about two weeks when my percentile rankings come through. Thanks for the good thoughts!

Ginny and Tori,

There are plenty of good choices on that book list. Try “Rebecca.” I read that in 9th grade and still go back to it every once in a while. It's creepy.

Have a great weekend, all!

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geauxtigers - Jun 24, 2006 2:07 pm (#1605 of 2979)

Well the internet is up and working once more! No more double and triple posts! Apparently every single phone line in my house was in perfect condition except for the one in my room. I think I know now why I could never get my phone to work! The guy did something I'm not sure what, but it works now so I'm happy!

We went to Whole Foods and it made me think of Maria and Puck because of all the healthy food there ! We got some really good sour dough bread and a baguette which is still not the same as the ones in France! I wish I knew what they did to the french bread in France! Well Whole Foods is in a relatively new shopping center so we did some shopping while we were there. I got this cute black halter top that’s made of cable knit sweater material. Super cute and it was half off too! We ate lunch at this sandwich place and it was far too healthy for me. The bread was 7-grain and had whole sunflower seeds and other weird nuts in it. and I like wheat bread, just not this stuff! yuck!

Julie, I looked at it and its HUGE! not to mention with tiny print. I try to find the shortest books on the list because I'm a slow reader so it takes quite a while to read. I also don't like reading a book that it feels like it takes 10 minutes to read one page. I need to get over this I've just had trouble doing it! On top of everything I always have to force myself to read so it becomes that much harder! I know bad excuses here but what can I say I'm OCD.

The three shortest books on the list are The Metamorphisis, The Commitments, and Blandings Castle. I think I'm going to go with those, I need to get on amazon because Barnes and Noble only had Metamorphosis.... Anyone read these? Am I digging my own grave?

Okay off to check the other threads! Have a great day/evening/night everyone! Wow its already 4:00 where did the day go?

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Julie Aronson - Jun 24, 2006 2:44 pm (#1606 of 2979)

Tori,

I think I mentioned earlier that Metamorphosis is one of my favorites. Rebecca seems thick, but it's a very quick read. Seriously. Were you intimidated by the gigantic OOtP? You can do it!

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geauxtigers - Jun 24, 2006 3:46 pm (#1607 of 2979)

Thanks Julie, I might give it a try! I wasn't really intimidated by OotP I think mostly because I'd already read the first 4 and nothing was going to keep me from reading Order! Plus I'd already conquered Goblet in 5th grade so I was ready for it!

Well I'm off to babysit tonight for a couple of hours. First time for these kids we'll see how it goes but they are older I think like 5 and 7 or something I'm not sure, but they aren't babies so thats good! Be back later tonight.

I just heard thunder, two whole rumbles and its getting dark.... Maybe we will get some form of water to our brown grass and drooping plants... **crosses fingers** we need rain desperately!

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The giant squid - Jun 24, 2006 3:56 pm (#1608 of 2979)

a guy born in 1972 can't become "old", the only thing he can do is to improve as time passes.—Elanor

I wholeheartedly agree. 1972 was a very good year, and not long ago at all.

*wonders if I am alone in the fact that I always scored higher on the math section of standardized tests and dreaded the verbal portion?**--Puck

No, you're not alone. I completed the math portions in my sleep. The verbal took a little more effort... Although even rebelling against it I still seem to have a much better grasp of grammar and vocabulary that a lot of the kids I'm seeing coming out of the schools today. We had one employee at the theater that--my hand to God--had worse handwriting than mine when I was 6! How does someone get to 12th grade with first grade writing skills?

we were forced to read Great Expectations—Catherine

Ugh. This is the other book that High School managed to kill my enjoyment of reading with. To this day just hearing the word "Dickens" makes my skin crawl. It may very well be a good story, but having to endure it as an assignment made it torture.

--Mike

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Amilia Smith - Jun 24, 2006 3:59 pm (#1609 of 2979)

I can understand the shortest book approach, Tori, but Julie is right. It's not so much how much is written, but how well it is written.

One of you (don't remember which, sorry) mentioned that you hate the way assigned reading is always dark, depressing, and moralistic. These are the fun books on your list (that I have read; there may be more):

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. Also comes in several excellent movie versions.
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde. I LOVE this book. So does Little Ginny.
Jeeves in the Morning, P.G Wodehouse. Jeeves and Wooster, one of my favorite British sitcoms, is based on Wodehouse's Jeeves stories.

I have not read Blandings Castle, but like I said, Jeeves is a hoot, and I would be very surprised if Blandings Castle were not as well. Also, in googling it, it appears to be a book of short stories. So you might like that, being able to read it in chunks.

I also really liked Rebecca and Wuthering Heights, but they are more on the dark/creepy side rather than the light fluffy side.

Good luck!

Mills.

EDIT: We had one employee at the theater that--my hand to God--had worse handwriting than mine when I was 6! How does someone get to 12th grade with first grade writing skills?

My guess is that he figured he could type, so why bother with handwriting.

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The giant squid - Jun 24, 2006 4:13 pm (#1610 of 2979)

   My guess is that he figured he could type, so why bother with handwriting.



All well and good, but unless things have changed greatly in the 15 years since I was in school at some point you actually have to write things down for the teachers. This kid's writing should have been noticed by every teacher from grade 2 on. Seriously, I've had pictures from my nieces on the fridge with better sentence structure. It's mindboggling.

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Amilia Smith - Jun 24, 2006 4:31 pm (#1611 of 2979)

I just have brothers who have that mentality. Horrendous handwriting, but incredible typing skills. It worried my mother to no end, but my brother could have cared less. Now, his sentence structure was fine. Just his handwriting that was slow and torturous to do, and he didn't see the necessity of improving it.

And I agree, intending to type for the rest of your life is no excuse for poor structure.

I am now paranoid about my sentence structure here in this post.

Mills.

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Regan of Gong - Jun 24, 2006 4:37 pm (#1612 of 2979)

With the writing thing, does your handwriting go downhill after a long break, e.g. summer holidays? Mine's always horrible.

One of the teachers at our school, the secondary co-ordinator, said her handwriting is quite a bit worse than 10 years ago because now she's typing half the time. You also notice with school assignments and things that most are typed, sometimes because it's a requirement, but mostly because people can write faster while typing. I type almost all my work, but its also an excuse to go on the computer and check the Lexicon, MSN, e-mail etc

Also, does anyone here use Google Sketchup? I'm playing with it at the moment, trying to create a model Hogwarts. I think it's brilliant, but you can get frustrated so easily. You can learn the basics in 10 minutes, but it's so hard to apply everything and use it correctly. Kind of like maths...or golf...

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Denise P. - Jun 24, 2006 5:38 pm (#1613 of 2979)

I ran my 10K race today. Mr. Denise brought Rhys in the jogging stroller but before we were even half a mile into it, I told him to go ahead. He and Rhys finished well before me. I was thrilled to discover there were several people behind me for the race so I didn't come in last. I was stunned to discover I actually placed third in my age group (which shows you it was a very small running field) My time was 1:17:53 which was about a minute slower than my personal best but I was still very pleased. My pace for my last 5K race was 12:16 and today my pace was 12:33 so that is not bad. The temperature was only 71 but humid. It was a gorgeous morning to be running.

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boop - Jun 24, 2006 5:58 pm (#1614 of 2979)

Denise, great job on your run!!!

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

hugs always

boop

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Catherine - Jun 24, 2006 6:35 pm (#1615 of 2979)

Mr. Denise brought Rhys in the jogging stroller but before we were even half a mile into it, I told him to go ahead. He and Rhys finished well before me. –Denise

Mr. Denise is so studly!

Denise, Congrats on the good finish you made, and Mr. Denise's. ! I salute you both! *Catherine loathes running, but likes runners. Go figure...*

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Pigwidgeon - Jun 24, 2006 7:35 pm (#1616 of 2979)

On books: Oooo, I love Rebecca! A very quick read, indeed, and so sinister. I aim to try to read two books a week after I get my big project done for class, which is to read/review 100 books and other materials for young children (we're talking picture books and short videos; I'm nearly halfway through the list). I want to tackle "Eragon," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Pride and Prejudice," "Speak" and whatever else looks good I also have become a big fan of Elanor Updale and her "Montmorency" books. The first two are fairly short. The first one, "Montmorency" starts out kind of slow, but the descriptions are so vivid that it's easy to forgive the pacing. It picks up, and goes like wildfire later. The second book isn't quite as good -- a bit fractured -- but still enjoyable, and the pacing is better. The third and most recent one (Montmorency and the Assassins) is longer, but it just blew me away. Gordan Korman's "Son of the Mob" and the sequel also are good -- very funny, light summer reads for teens. Especially the sequal.

I've always been a big reader, although it's amazing some of my high school classes didn't kill that in me. Ugh. I don't know why some of the worst tripe is considered "classic," and apologies to fans, but I can't stand James Joyce. I actually like Dickens, though.

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Finn BV - Jun 24, 2006 7:40 pm (#1617 of 2979)

Hi everybody!! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Whew. Thanks to Kip for moving my post to this thread, as in my merry time abroad I had this silly idea I might read through all 640 posts that awaited me… tsk…

So, I didn't. The usual to all who need them, and just in recent posts, congrats to Denise on her run! It's time for me to start to burn off all that food I ate…

Anyway, I had a fantastic time on our trip. We visited Barcelona, Spain; the south of France; Monaco (new country!); Lucca, Vicenza, and Venice, Italy; and lastly Amsterdam, the Netherlands (new country!). Thought of all you forumers from these places and wished we could have bumped into each other! I'm dead tired; basically I've gone with six hours of sleep in about 48 hours (this includes trying to sleep in the Venice airport in dreadfully uncomfortable chairs).

I haven't got the final photo count, because we took some today that I haven't uploaded yet, but as of Thursday evening (14 days into the trip), we took… 1439 photos. I sort of go crazy with our camera…

I'm happy to be back, miss it a ton, and am looking forward to getting caught up on the forum. Basically for the months of April and May I didn't really venture into any threads besides the ones at the bottom of the main page and the FFF, due to schoolwork, but now that it's the summer I hope to be back up to higher posting status! With camp and tennis and all, I'll do my best.

Off to look around to see what's new!!

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Puck - Jun 24, 2006 7:47 pm (#1618 of 2979)

wOOt, Denise! I did a couple of races a decade or so ago. (Sometimes running, sometimes swimming.) My goal was always not to be last.

Baby was cranky this afternoon, so I took her shopping to get out of the house on the rainy afternoon. I returned some capris I bought last week. (I tried them on when I got home to find they were very low rise. People over 30 with 3 kids cannot wear ultra low rise pants no matter how much time they spend doing pilates.) I tried things on this time, and was happy to discover I'm down a size. wOOt!

To make the afternoon even better, I actually managed to squeeze in a 30 minute nap. Yes, I should have washed the floors, but then I'd be tossed from the slacker moms club.

Julie, now you can relax!

Cheers!

Kathy

edited to add a Welcome Back!! to Finn. Glad you had a great time. I believe I once slept in that airport. (I definately camped out at the ones in Rome and London.)

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haymoni - Jun 24, 2006 8:22 pm (#1619 of 2979)

I liked "Rebecca" - I think - It's been awhile.

The Commitments was on TV today.

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dizzy lizzy - Jun 24, 2006 10:20 pm (#1620 of 2979)

Hi all!!

Happy Birthday to all those who've had birthdays!!

Progress has been made on the employment problem... I gave up looking for work !!

I decided to go back to TAFE (Technical and Further Education) college (In Australia; TAFE is sort of halfway between high school and university in academic status and tends to focus on skills for work) and do a certificate in Office Administration. This is 4 days per week (Mon-Thurs 9.30am to 3.30pm) and I still get my unemployment benefit whilst doing the course. The course goes for 6 months and I enroll next Wednesday.

I have also been recommended for a casual job for 2 weeks which is basically delivering and picking up the Census forms for my area. For those not living in Oz - our Census is conducted every 5 years and this year it is on August 8th.

I have also picked up casual waitressing in a restaurant. I do not have to take orders for meals as it is a set menu, only deliver the meals and clean up and reset the tables. The restaurant  has two sections and I will work in the section relating to special functions.

It is my Brother's wedding next weekend. WOW!! I am so pleased...

I'm hoping the combination of both jobs will help my financial situation very much.

For world cup soccer (quidditch)... Australia Vs Italy!!!!!!! Now that will be an interesting match .

Lizzy

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geauxtigers - Jun 24, 2006 11:23 pm (#1621 of 2979)

Welcome back Finn! I hope you had an awesome time! Jet lag is worse going then coming back. I woke up at 6 a.m. the next morning even though I'd only been asleep 5 hours. Going there I'd been up close to 24 hours and that was hard! I feel for ya!

Thanks for the books recommendations, I've already forgotten who said this but the Jeeves in the Morning book and Blandings Castle I think I will read because my english teacher also said they were funny. Blandings Castle is short stories and I think that will help.

Oh gosh I can't remember what all I was going to say.... Handwriting, When I was little, I remember teachers telling my mom I had very neat handwriting.... not so much any more! I used to care about how it looked now I have just enough time to scribble something down and pray its readable. If I try, it can be neat, but thats rare, I've gotten to the point where as long as its legible, I don't care what it looks like! It a mix of script and print so you can imagine....and yes after summer holidays, holding a pen is awkward because I've spent 2 and a half months avoiding writing as much as possible!

All of our papers have to be typed to get credit and I think teachers do that simply because you can always read it and they don't have to waste time deciphering messy writing. I don't blame them! But other than papers, most everything is written, I prefer writing most times to typing because I write faster than I type. Plus if I mess up I just scratch it out, faster than backspacing and re-typing.

Wow you can tell its late I'm starting to babble about handwriting. How lame!

Off to bed now before I bore myself to sleep. Night everyone!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 24, 2006 11:45 pm (#1622 of 2979)

WELCOME BACK FINN!!! Glad you had a great time! I'm hoping to go back and visit my French friends over christmas break..my mom says that if I can buy the ticket, I can go so that's why there's so much babysitting this summer!! I took around 400 pics when I went to France but I must say you have me beat!!

I must say I think my handwriting is quite neat, because I can't stand it to be messy! That's one of those random things that bothers me beyond reason!!

Good job on your run Denise! I find it extremely difficult to run and avoid it at all cost, unless of course it's chasing down the ice cream man! They used to make us do the "physical fitness test" in lower and middle school,and one of the things we had to do was run a mile.The only year I actually tried was 4th grade and I was literately almost sick when I finished(my time was like 8:45) but in the passing years all I did was walk it because that first time nearly killed me! It's a shame I don't like it because I'm positive that running is my sport! I'm built for it, with really long legs but I just hateee it, mostly because you have to sweat a lot! That's why I swim!!

Thinks for all the book recommendations to those who gave them! I'm thinking Rebecca may not be my cup of tea, but Jeeves in the Morning may be a good choice! I like comedies, and the light hearted type books.

ahh what else........ohh this is kinda random but I have noticed that some people are calling math maths is it just an American thing to say it in a singular form instead of plural?? Ok yeah I know I really need to go to bed!

Have a great RotN everyone!

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Finn BV - Jun 24, 2006 11:50 pm (#1623 of 2979)

ginny, I believe Brits and Ozzies say "maths." Silly.

Thanks for the welcomes back!

Lizzy, good luck in school. I"m sure it's the right career move.

We're talking about Jeeves? My dad is crazy for them. I like them too but haven't worked up the courage to really read a long one, only the short stories. TV series is hilarious though… I'll ask him which one he'd recommend.

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Lina - Jun 25, 2006 1:15 am (#1624 of 2979)

Ginny and Tori, I'd take Agatha Cristie any time. No one has ever had to push me read her and her books have never been required here. May I say that she is just as interesting as HP and that I believe that JKR must have read quite a few of her books too?

***Waving to Finn*** Welcome back!

Lizzy, I'm glad you found a satisfying amount of studying and working. Have a good time at the wedding!

Denise, that's great job you did!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 25, 2006 8:30 am (#1625 of 2979)

Welcome back, Finn!

Great job, Denise!

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boop - Jun 25, 2006 10:55 am (#1626 of 2979)

April, its good to see you around. I am sure you are kept busy with school and work.

Welcome Back Finn, glad you had a great time. Are you going to share some of the pictures with us?

Lizzy, Good luck with going to school. I hope it all works out for you. Enjoy the wedding!

hugs always

boop

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Catherine - Jun 25, 2006 11:18 am (#1627 of 2979)

I was feeling nostalgic today, so I posted to the "Humorous Forum Posts" thread.

Chemyst, I had fun searching for your limerick in honor of Prefect Marcus's birthday in the "Harry's 'Ship Unites the Houses" thread. I was also reminded of some amusing times arguing with Prefect Marcus, who hasn't dropped in lately, alas earwax.

Also, I think it may be Liz Mann's birthday, so I'll say "Happy Birthday" to her just in case.

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geauxtigers - Jun 25, 2006 11:41 am (#1628 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Liz!!

Off to Sam's with my mom, should be back soon. Nice and hot today, maybe it will rain today!

Have a great day everyone

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 25, 2006 12:20 pm (#1629 of 2979)
Edited Jun 25, 2006 1:20 pm

Why use a hundred words when ten thousand will do!" LOL timrew!

Thanks for the smiley link, Mediwitch. Hopefully I can get it to work!

Gina, I enjoyed the Iola link. Sounds like a good read.

Denise P. LoL about your little "Rockhead"! Does that mean he would test as 'cheddar'?

He has had girls calling him since he was in third grade. If I hadn't seen it myself, Denise, I would find it difficult to believe, but they do start young! Why do mothers allow their daughters to make those phone calls?? I've seen Grade K girls engaged in the "I like. . ." mode of behavior. Olivia had a "stalker" in 4th (yes) Grade. Unfortunately, it was our next door neighbor's son. I witnessed what he was doing myself at the school and at home. I went to the teacher and her response was that Olivia needed to be more assertive. How much more assertive can a quiet, shy person be than to say, "Leave me alone!"? Not too happy about the 'blame the victim' approach. Needless to say, it was quite an uncomfortable situation from every angle. His mother was in denial - 'he just wanted to see her Gameboy' (every day, all day???) Mr. HH always says, 'Give someone enough rope, he'll eventually hang himself'. It worked - took 3 years, though.

Tori, I actually got excited when I heard you were going to Whole Foods! We have one about 25 min. from here and that is where I try to do the bulk of my shopping!

wOOt, Denise! I second that - great job not coming in last, Denise!!

Welcome back, Finn!

Congratulations on your brother's wedding, Liz - have a great time! EDIT: Happy Birthday, Liz!!

Maria

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 25, 2006 1:26 pm (#1630 of 2979)

Mr. HH always says, 'Give someone enough rope, he'll eventually hang himself'. It worked - took 3 years, though.

LOL Maria!! I find that a bit amazing as well, when I was in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade boys had cooties!! It wasn't until 7th grade all that started!! It's weird how quickly its changed.

I agree with boop, Finn you need to share some pics!

Happy Birthday to Liz!

Ohh yeah, speaking of weird names(I know it's quite a few post back but I must say this!) Today in Sam's the checkout lady worker that we had was named "Tkila" (pronounced like tequila).  I thought it was strange...why would you name your kid after a type of alcohol??? It's not spelled the same but still....

Have a great RotD everyone! I'll check back later!

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Catherine - Jun 25, 2006 3:11 pm (#1631 of 2979)

Denise, I love the photo of the baby robins.

We have a cardinal mama bird nesting right in front of our sunporch window. We think the babies are very new hatchlings, because we've only gotten the teensiest glimpse of their little beaks when mama feeds them.

We have a robin's nest in our front yard, which I discovered when I was planting zinnias last Tuesday and the bird inside the nest thought I was too close and dive bombed me. Now I know how Ron felt when Hermione had her bird hex moment...

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Mediwitch - Jun 25, 2006 3:47 pm (#1632 of 2979)

Hey all!

Finn, welcome back!

Lizzy, congrats on the decision to go back to school!

It's raining again . Wish I could send some out to those of you who really need it. I think we've given up on the vegetable garden this year. Maybe next year we'll put in a rice paddy!

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Tazzygirl - Jun 25, 2006 4:15 pm (#1633 of 2979)

Okay, so Sunday seemed longer away when you are looking at it from Friday morning... I only had to read through 66 posts.

My camping trip was fun! It was super hot (dry, dusty, 100+ degree weather). And there were TONS of bugs (thanks for the wish though, Ginny!). But, my dad brought his off-roading Jeep, and we spent all day yesterday going on this loooong trail and rolling over boulders and stuff. I haven't done that with my dad in about 10 years. Didn't really know how much I missed it!

On the book front: I loved reading To Kill a Mockingbird (the movie with Gregory Peck was awesome too!), The Great Gatsby, and everything by Charlotte and Emily Bronte, and Jane Austin. I kind of liked Shakespeare, Grapes of Wrath (didn't really like the movie), and the Scarlet Letter. I really didn't like Lord of the Flies. Way to depressing to me. I think that is the only book that I was forced to read in high school that I really didn't want to continue onto the next chapter.

Ginny and Tori- sorry about the scratch on your Jeep! I love the scratch remover stuff though! (Quick little story for you: I was driving my aunt's brand new SUV while they were out of town, and they have a post that divides their garage. It's a tight squeeze because of that... so I accidentally scraped the front side of the SUV a loooong way, and it was about 6 inches wide. I immediately started hyperventilating and drove the car to a car shop. They came out with a rag and the scratch remover and now the spot is completely gone! )

Finn: ...we took...1439 photos.

You sound like my aunt! I am sure when I get back to Hawaii, she'll want to show me all of her thousands of photos from their trip to Europe. On my little weekend trip I took only 10 photos! I will some day manage to increase my photo taking...

Congratulations on your run, Denise! and the little birdies in your avatar are so cute! I think the tree outside my window has a birds nest with babies. There are two older looking birds chirping at anything and anyone who gets too close!

Good luck with the schooling, Lizzy!

I think I managed to cover pretty much everything...

~Kristina

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 25, 2006 4:36 pm (#1634 of 2979)

I really didn't like Lord of the Flies. Way to depressing to me. I think that is the only book that I was forced to read in high school that I really didn't want to continue onto the next chapter. Tazzy

Sadly, that I'd consider Lord of the Flies a happy book, compared to what we normally have to read !!

Glad camping was fun!!

I'm watching Forest Gump and it's at the part where Forest runs across the country, and it made me think of Denise! One of my favorite movies!

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Denise P. - Jun 25, 2006 4:47 pm (#1635 of 2979)

This is the second batch of robins we have watched hatch this year. The first batch was in our Bradford Pear tree back in early May. That nest is now being used by a mama mourning dove. We know she has laid eggs but they have not hatched yet. We will probably get a pair of cowbirds or even mockingbirds next in our bushes at some point.

The mama robin is a bold little thing. She is a good mom, she stays with the babies until we are about 3 ft away before she takes off. Normally she just stares us down and doesn't move. We keep the kids away and today I went close enough to get pics and then left her alone.

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Puck - Jun 25, 2006 4:53 pm (#1636 of 2979)

Click to Pick on Disney channel tonight is COS.

Happy Birthday, Lizzy!!! Good luck with school! Always fun to start a new adventure.

Mediwitch, I agree, there should be some way to share this rain water with all those suffering from drought! I gave up on a garden, too. If we don't get out soon my kids may kill each other. (Community ceter pool was closed this weekend for cleaning, so my usual bad weather energy release was not an option.)

Went to an open house after church. The house itself was lovely, but too close to a busy road. We are in a nice neighborhood now, but the third child really pushed us to the limit of space.

Welcome back, Kristina. No big posting sprees this weekend.

Cheers, Kathy

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Catherine - Jun 25, 2006 4:54 pm (#1637 of 2979)

Hmmm.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

Mostly, my students complain about reading "depressing" things.

I've tried really hard to find "uplifting" (urg, that sounds like a lingerie ad) selections, but many of those are "inaccessable" due to time period or language difficulties.

Here's a question, posed to the group: I would like, as an "allegory" selection, to teach The Little Prince this year. It was suggested to me that the Prince's decision to allow the snake to bite him and send him "home" would be too depressing and would wrongly influence the kids' minds. Am I nuts here, or could this novel be used to differentiate "child" world view versus "adolescent" and possibly "adult" world view? I also will be teaching African folktales *waves to Lupin is Lupin* and I think the speaking animals and the Sahara desert setting are a fitting conclusion to this unit. Maybe I'm just seeing mirages in the sand...

EDIT: I failed to mention that I adore this novel, and it alone is the reason I regret not speaking French, as I always wonder what is lost in translation.

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Mediwitch - Jun 25, 2006 4:59 pm (#1638 of 2979)

Mama birds are pretty amazing. We were visiting my parents last weekend, and apparently we got a bit too close to a killdeer's eggs (they lay their eggs on the ground, and they look like small rocks). Mama started making an awful lot of noise, then began holding her wing as though it were injured. She kept it up for quite a while, because my stepfather kept looking for the eggs! Poor mama, she was in an awful state before we could get my stepfather to leave her alone!

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Thora - Jun 25, 2006 5:29 pm (#1639 of 2979)

Hello all, just popping in to say I will be offline for the week, not that it's that big of a deal. Don't miss me too much.

Thora

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geauxtigers - Jun 25, 2006 5:29 pm (#1640 of 2979)
Edited Jun 25, 2006 6:02 pm

Sadly, that I'd consider Lord of the Flies a happy book, compared to what we normally have to read !! I second this!

We had a bird one time that used to divebomb my cat, it was funny to watch. it did that everytime my cat walked under the tree.

Please send the rain here! I think the last time it rain here was at the beginning of the month and that was a 10 minute torrential downpour! The grass in my neighborhood makes it look like its winter. Everything is brown, all the plants are drooping some are just crunchy. We've been running the sprinkler for weeks now, but what we need is just a good rain!

Glad you had a good camping trip!

Now its time for me to go flip between Disney channel and the Astros game for the next few hours! Go 'Stros don't let 'em sweep ya!

I might go to the chat later too. Have a great rest of the evening!

EDIT Finn, I'll take that rain! Dracula is on our reading list, I think I've decided to pass that one up, but several people have told me its very good...but I've heard just as much that its not, so I dunno. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is on summer reading for the Freshman! Glad I technically "can't" read that one! I've heard its a "gem"!

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Finn BV - Jun 25, 2006 5:39 pm (#1641 of 2979)

Lizzy, forgot to say before: Best wishes to your brother!

Well, I'll sort out some photos and put them online, since so many of you asked. That is, if I get around to it. I'm a bit lazy after I take the photos (I'm about halfway done putting a batch of 1000 into some albums from our trip of two years ago…), but taking them I just go at it!!

Kristina, glad camping was fun. I've always loved hiking and that type of thing.

Denise, great pics and congrats to the birth of the robins!

Kathy, I think you're confused. It's Liz Mann's birthday today, not dizzy lizzy's. Unless it's the both of theirs.

Catherine, I'll admit I was little when I read The Little Prince (come to think of it, it was read to me), but as I recall (and I could be dreadfully wrong), it was a heart-warming book about a child's (children's in general) view on the world: on people and love. It would also be interesting to discuss what genre the book is: with illustrations it might fall under the category of picture book or child's novel, but "is it"?

Speaking of English department books with themes never being uplifting, how about this? This year we read To Kill a Mockingbird (discussion of rape), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (graphic rape), Much Ado About Nothing (infidelity/scorn for the unfaithful), and Dracula (seduction). Not to mention poetry, when we read Sylvia Plath, the suicidal poet.

Tori, I will gladly send the rain your way! I understand it's rained here for about the past 8 days and it will for the next week.

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Mediwitch - Jun 25, 2006 6:53 pm (#1642 of 2979)

Finn: I understand it's rained here for about the past 8 days and it will for the next week.

Yep. We're thinking about turning in our cars and getting boats!  

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 25, 2006 7:06 pm (#1643 of 2979)

lol Finn, our "rape" book from last year was The Scarlett Letter Which is more about an affair than rape, but still, not exactly on my list of top 10 books! It was awful!!

Yes, serious drought down here, radars are showing rain all around us but alas, earwax, it has yet to hit my neighborhood! My weatherbug currently has the rainfall total for June as "N/A".

Watching CoS on Disney right now! The're playing the extended version with deleted scenes!! :jumps in excitement: YaY!!

Catherine, I have never read The Little Prince so I can't really help you!

I'm going to the chat later if anyone wants to join me!

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Solitaire - Jun 25, 2006 7:27 pm (#1644 of 2979)

Dang, Finn! I can't even get permission to teach an elective on the Harry Potter novels in our school. The principal supports me, but the school board does not. As to the others ... our 8th graders do study To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my faves), but the others are not covered until high school.

Solitaire

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Finn BV - Jun 25, 2006 8:11 pm (#1645 of 2979)

Hehe… Solitaire, a history teacher at my school just wrote the novel Academy X. Don't know if you've heard of it, but it's quite controversial because it talks about elite parents of children at private schools who will buy anything to get their children good grades or into good schools. Our high school is rather similar (though definitely not as exaggerated!). I haven't read the book, but many critics (including the head of our rival school) said that they would be surprised to see the author continue on at my school. Thankfully, the administration is the best, and our head of school said that he enjoyed the book thoroughly, and from his tone, didn't sound like he had any plans on firing Dr. Trees, the author.

Anyway, just thought I'd add that about school, books, controversy. Anyway.

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Ponine - Jun 25, 2006 8:47 pm (#1646 of 2979)

I love The Little Prince! It's a beautiful story, with many interesting aspects to discuss and wonder about. I think you'd have to be REALLY -- what's the word I want... -- uhm -- sensitive to -- individuals thinking for themselves? But then again, considering the fact that some people want to ban HP from libraries, then -- I don't know... I REALLY loved Playing Beatie Bow, most books by Hadley Irwin and Judy Blume, and also The Education of Little Tree and You'll find Me in the Mountains, even if the author is less than ideal. Rebecca is a pretty fun read, too, I thought -- little scary, but fun... I love books!! Also the Secret Lives of Bees... and Paulo Caelho..

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 25, 2006 8:55 pm (#1647 of 2979)
Edited Jun 25, 2006 9:28 pm

You think they'd have learned regarding the HP banning from the history of book-banning. Back when I was in HS, they were trying to ban the Catcher In the Rye - so what did students do?? You guessed it - we bought the book and read it to find out what all the fuss was about.

EDIT: Well, there are some situations in the book that were considered controversial, however, the very act of banning it sends people flocking to it. There was not enough in it to cause such a stink, IMO.

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 25, 2006 9:02 pm (#1648 of 2979)

I don't really see what all the fuss is about Catcher in the Rye. We read it this year and there wasn't anything that I could find to be all that controversial about it. My teacher made us do an in class debate on the topic of whether or not it should be banned, and those who were chosen to be for banning the book had a hard time coming up with stuff. I want to go back and re-read it, because I mostly read spark notes for it as I was so stressed and pressed for time at the end of the year. We just had toread it much too fast for me to keep up( less than 2 weeks!)

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geauxtigers - Jun 25, 2006 9:11 pm (#1649 of 2979)
Edited Jun 25, 2006 9:51 pm

Yeah A Catcher in the Rye the only thing that could be considered controversial is the language because Holden cusses basically every other sentence, but come on I think everyone would be lying if they said high schooler don't cuss worse than what you find in that book. Its not like its news to us or anything, so why try to ban it? I still am unsure if I liked it or not I just feel like there wasn't much too it. I guess I need to reread it too I also had to read it the last 2 weeks of school and was way more preoccupied with other classes to read it properly!

EDIT: The Astros won in 13 innings!!!!! WOO HOO!!! Just had to say. Now I can stop stressing and chewing gum long enough to respond to some threads I've been putting off for a while now!

Night everyone, I'm still in the chat room if anyone cares to join me!

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Solitaire - Jun 25, 2006 9:50 pm (#1650 of 2979)

Horntail, they have not banned the books from the library; I don't think they could do that. We are just not allowed to teach them as novels ... although I continually reference HP when I am trying to explain things like character development, elements of plot, symbolism, etc. Since most kids have read the books or seen the movies, they provide a wealth of easily understood examples.

Solitaire

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dizzy lizzy - Jun 25, 2006 10:29 pm (#1651 of 2979)

It more than likely that it is Liz Mann's birthday today...Liz spends most of her time on the fan-fiction part of our forum.

My birthday however...is in January...

Have a wonderful day everybody

Lizzy

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Amilia Smith - Jun 25, 2006 11:28 pm (#1652 of 2979)
Edited Jun 26, 2006 12:10 am

Well, a very merry un-birthday to you, then, Lizzy!

Catherine, if Lord of the Flies is not considered depressing, I do not think The Little Prince could possibly be too much of a downer. It is one of my favorite books as well.

My "rape" book was Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Utterly miserable book. Jasper Fforde, of Thursday Next fame, claims to read Tess from backwards so that it has a happy ending.

Another possible reason Catcher could be banned is that a couple high profile murderers were found to be obsessed with it.

I got a call from my 2 yr old nephew today. He told me "Aloha," and counted to 10 for me.

I am listening to an old George and Gracie radio program from 1950. Even back then they were making jokes about how old George Burns was.

Mills.

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Regan of Gong - Jun 26, 2006 12:17 am (#1653 of 2979)

We read an extract from Tess of the D'Urbervilles last week in English as an example of setting for our unit on short stories. It did sound utterly miserable, digging up swedes in the rain...

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The giant squid - Jun 26, 2006 3:04 am (#1654 of 2979)

I thought it was strange...why would you name your kid after a type of alcohol???—virginiaelizabeth

Gee, I don't know Ginny...maybe your folks might have some insight?

Welcome back, Finn!!!! I'm posting at 3AM in your honor!

Happy birthday to Liz Mann and congratulations to Denise on her run.

I'm thinking I might have to scan in a sample of this kid's writing...I don't think y'all are grasping the depth of his lack of skill. I'm not saying I've got perfect penmanship by any stretch of the imagination, but someone looking at my writing would know it was done by someone over the age of 6...

Can you tell I'm appalled by the state of public education these days? Ironically, I'm the sibling that didn't go into education. Go figure.

--Mike

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Steve Newton - Jun 26, 2006 4:30 am (#1655 of 2979)

Being a librarian and all I think I have some thoughts on books. My 2 all-time favorites are To Kill a Mockingbird and Catch 22. I loved both and they reread well. Most people don't get the right definition of Catch 22. There are a plethora of fantasy books that would make my list. Glen Cook would figure prominently.

Civil War novels were discussed a few days ago. The Killer Angels by Shaara. Some historical looseness but a really good book. From my youth I remember Rifles for Watie. My first book that made me realize that the guys on both sides were human. Crane's Red Badge of Courage is excellent. I am temporarily drawing a blank on more.

It sounds as if I am the only one who actually liked Hardy's Return of the Native. I was fortunate in never having had to deal with Tess.

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Julie Aronson - Jun 26, 2006 4:56 am (#1656 of 2979)

I can't remember now if Tori or Ginny hated The Scarlet Letter. I hated it, too, in high school. Then I reread it in an American Lit survey course about three years ago and I thought it was much better. Take this how I mean it, ladies: You are probably too young to be reading that book. Not because of the content (of course) but because you simply lack the life experiences to frame an appropriate context in which to read it. This same age-related thing applies to movies, too. When I was 16 or so, The Right Stuff was released. I fell asleep, and couldn't for the life of me understand what people saw in it. Fast forward twenty years, I watched it again, and then I got it.

Hmmm...maybe I should give boring old Chuck Dickens another shake...(maybe not?)

Have a great day!

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Finn BV - Jun 26, 2006 4:58 am (#1657 of 2979)

Welcome back, Finn!!!! I'm posting at 3AM in your honor! --Squid Mike

Oh, Mike, you really know how to make a guy feel welcomed back. I'm just tearing up!! Hey, actually, the night we got back, I was posting at 2:50 am!! Woohoo! (And it wasn't because of jet lag – hadn't slept on Saturday night yet, and Europe time is six hours ahead! So it was like pulling an all-nighter! )

Enjoy the RotD all! I start music camp and tennis camp today, though I doubt the latter because of this rain… For those of you who recall last July, this is the same place of the infamous crash cymbal incident…

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Marie E. - Jun 26, 2006 6:02 am (#1658 of 2979)

Welcome back, Finn!

I was trying to remember which books I had read in high school. In ninth grade we read Great Expectations, Silas Marner, and Romeo and Juliet. In tenth grade, which was advanced American Lit, we read Grapes of Wrath, Giants of the Earth, and I think we read Huckleberry Finn. One summer when I was in college I decided to read some "classic" books that I had somehow missed reading in school. I remember reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, Of Mice and Men, and Dracula.

Squid Mike, did you have Mr. Upton for tenth grade English? He had an infamous Elvis impression.

Well, I have been fighting a cold all weekend so I'm off to drink some oj and boost my vitamin C. Happy Monday!

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 26, 2006 6:23 am (#1659 of 2979)

I think "required reading" is what's hurt the literacy of US schoolchildren the most. --Squid Mike

The school where I will begin teaching 7th grade Humanities this fall has eliminated the "summer reading list" for the middle school, and instead presented the students with a list of "recommended reading." – Catherine

Hmmmmm.... Well, I must say that I think what has hurt US literacy the "most" is the lack of ability to read. I must also say that I would suspect when something is "recommended," the clever student interprets that to mean, apparently correctly, that she doesn't have to do it. (Put collegiately, the student would know that "it won't be on the final.") I recognize that I've become a tyrant in my old age, but I don't see how transforming a reading list from a requirement to a suggestion would cause more students to read. **** waves to JKR and gives permission to use the adverb "collegiately" if she wants****

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Catherine - Jun 26, 2006 6:35 am (#1660 of 2979)

Well, Loopy, I think the idea was not to present two or three selections that MUST be read, but rather a long list of items to choose from.

There is an assignment due at the end, but there is more choice. So hopefully, if someone chooses something that isn't appealing, he/she can then make another choice without feeling locked into a book that was chosen by the teacher.

There is also the hope that if a student likes one book of a series (say, Pullman's His Dark Materials, then perhaps the student will be motivated to read another book by the author, or a book in a similar category.

I look at it as the difference between saying, "You have to eat these three vegetables" and saying, "Here's a plate -  go to the salad bar and load up."

Well, I must say that I think what has hurt US literacy the "most" is the lack of ability to read.--Loopy Lupin

That too.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 26, 2006 7:09 am (#1661 of 2979)

Horntail, they have not banned the books from the library; I don't think they could do that.

Solitaire, they would not ban it from the public library, however, the school library did not have the book. And yes, they do have a say as to how the school's district money is spent, so it is not all too difficult to keep a book out of the selection.

You are not a tyrant, Loopy, you just see things differently from the seemingly undefeatable perspective of an adolescent mind.

Olivia's school requires a specific book to be read and provides a list from which at least one other must be read (reader's choice). This year, for 8th Grade, the required book was Pigman by Paul Zindel. Olivia did not like it at all. Her response was, 'every book we've been required to read this year was about a person in his/her late teens and his/her messed up family life' (groan follows).

She is an avid reader and between readings, she is working on starting up a news column reviewing and discussing video games. Her aim is to get it into a local paper.

I just ordered A Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen for Olivia. That is a civil war story, Chemyst, though I am not quite sure what reading level you were looking for. It might pass for 9th Grade but maybe not for a higher level and though I have read the write-up, I cannot recommend it yet.

I also bought her Speak, (which I will read first because I am not sure if it is appropriate for her age group) and the first of the Bartimaeus Trilogy.

I, myself, went through a serious Poe phase from late middle school through high school.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 26, 2006 7:27 am (#1662 of 2979)

It sounds as if I am the only one who actually liked Hardy's Return of the Native. I was fortunate in never having had to deal with Tess.---Steve Newton

Then you missed this: Post 1585

And this: Post 1586

And this: Post 1587

For the record, I found Tess of the D'Urbervilles utterly absorbing. And Jude the Obscure is on my bookshelf waiting for me to enjoy.

****thinks required reading lists are an abomination****

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 26, 2006 7:36 am (#1663 of 2979)

You are not a tyrant, Loopy, you just see things differently from the seemingly undefeatable perspective of an adolescent mind.—HH

Seemingly is the key word there. Oh, it can be defeated, rest assured.

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Catherine - Jun 26, 2006 8:00 am (#1664 of 2979)

For the record, I found Tess of the D'Urbervilles utterly absorbing.--Lupin is Lupin

I did like Tess, although that is the one Thomas Hardy novel we did NOT read in high school, and it is the one I really liked. Go figure.

I read Speak, as it was on a recent Printz award list. I liked it; it's definitely for the more mature reader.

You are not a tyrant, Loopy, you just see things differently from the seemingly undefeatable perspective of an adolescent mind.

Oh, he's a tyrant all right! Mostly a benevolent one unless a "Miss Manners" situation arises.

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Winky Woo - Jun 26, 2006 8:51 am (#1665 of 2979)

****Alert*****

JK Rowling is going to be on Richard and Judy at 5pm!

For our non-UK members its a husband and wife chat show, a bit of an institution in the UK. Unfortunately I am In my folks house and I cant tape it. :sad:

I'll try and take a few notes and report back!

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Soul Mate for Sirius - Jun 26, 2006 9:30 am (#1666 of 2979)

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've had time to jump on here!!

So, first off, I have to be honest and say that I did not read through then entire 1000+ posts I had to catch up on. That being said, Happy Birthday to those I missed and the appropriate charms to those in need!!

I too enjoyed Tess of the D'Ubervilles. It was required reading for my AP English class in high school. (For those not familiar, AP stands for advanced placement. It's pretty much a college level English class taught to seniors in high school!) We had to read like 12 books over the summer for that class, many of them "classic" summer reading books that most enjoy, but Tess was by far my favorite!

Anyway, things are really crazy here. Trying to get back to a normal pace of life after the last 2 months. It's proving harder then expected. I moved back into my parents' house for now, and that's helping a lot, but at the same time, my mom and I are finding it hard to live together. I'm planning on moving down to Columbus in a few months. I'll be going back to Ohio State in September and need a place to live. I think I found a nice place for not too much money so I have to call the landlord tomorrow and see if it's still available.

Well that's all from my end...hopefully I'll be around more often. Off to check the threads!!

-Jenn

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haymoni - Jun 26, 2006 9:48 am (#1667 of 2979)

I hope all goes well for you, Jenn!

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Elanor - Jun 26, 2006 10:13 am (#1668 of 2979)
Edited Jun 26, 2006 10:43 am

Catherine: "I would like, as an "allegory" selection, to teach The Little Prince this year. It was suggested to me that the Prince's decision to allow the snake to bite him and send him "home" would be too depressing and would wrongly influence the kids' minds."

I so love this book! It is so rich and can be read on so many levels (as can HP, mind you! ). It is one of those books which can "travel" with you throughout your life: at the same time the same and a bit different as you become older, but always cheering you up.

I don't think the snake biting the Little Prince is too depressing at all! First of all, the Little Prince says "I'll look dead but it won't be true." (translation is mine, sorry!) and his body isn't there anymore at dawn which can be understood literally if needed. And then, but it is only MHO, I think the idea of death shouldn't be neglected because it can be "depressing". Death is part of life and books like this can be a very interesting way to approach the subject with children, even very young. They understand more than we think they do and I think it is more comforting to talk with them and let them talk about those subjects rather than never mention them. It is just like saying Voldemort's name aloud somehow!

I could talk about the Little Prince for hours but to summarize it all I'd say that, IMO, it would be a great present you'd be giving your students!

I adore this novel, and it alone is the reason I regret not speaking French, as I always wonder what is lost in translation

I never read it in English so I'm afraid I can't really tell you more about the translation but I think it is a matter of nuances. I have read translated quotes from it in English though and one is coming to my mind: in that quote in English, the Fox asks the Little Prince to "tame" him. In French, the verb is "apprivoiser" (there are several French verbs that can be translated by "to tame"). "Apprivoiser" means "to tame" but it doesn't imply the idea of "control" that (I think, but I may be wrong, you'll tell me) "to tame" can have in English. "Apprivoiser" means to gain someone's confidence little by little and that "someone", either human (you'd say that of a young child for example) or animal isn't a threat, only a timid creature. To really think of the translation is a great subject of study too BTW!

**waving to everybody**

Audrey

PS: BTW, it is never too late to start and learn French, hehehe

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Gina R Snape - Jun 26, 2006 11:18 am (#1669 of 2979)

Happy birthday Liz.

I read The Little Prince two summers ago and it's definitely one of those books that lends itself to wide interpretation.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jun 26, 2006 11:18 am (#1670 of 2979)

Oh, it can be defeated, rest assured.

Sounds as though you're speaking from experience. I'm shocked.

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geauxtigers - Jun 26, 2006 11:47 am (#1671 of 2979)

Okay, Tess is on our list, not sure if I will pick that one up! Yes I despised the Scarlett Letter, and you are probably right in saying its an age thing as I have a feeling a lot of the stuff we read are. We read Huck Finn this year, I thought it was a good story, and I can see why people like it but I don't think its anything to get worked up over. We had to read A Gathering of Old Men now thats a gem let me tell ya. Nothing happened for about 150 pages except a bunch of old guys were claiming they shot this farmer. Then the last 5 pages of the book, we got some action. It was pretty dry. We read nothing but American Lit. all and all it wasn't terrible what we had to read, but there were some I kept hoping would spontaneously combust so I would have a reason not to read it...

Next year we have British Literature I think, so I dunno how that will go... I think we read Frankenstien.

I guess I need to read the Little Prince, I think it was read to me when I was little, but I haven't read it since...

Well I'm off to check the threads, I know I was going to say something else but alas earwax, I cannot remember what it is!

Have a great day everyone!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 26, 2006 11:52 am (#1672 of 2979)

You are probably too young to be reading that book. Not because of the content (of course) but because you simply lack the life experiences to frame an appropriate context in which to read it.-Julie A.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. That's the problem with most of these books, the subjects are too mature. We can read the books just fine and understand them but, we can't relate to them at all. Nothing in these books has anything to do with anything in our lives, it just a boring story about someone with a miserable life. Part of the reason I like To Kill a Mockingbird was because it was about a kid, and there was some humor along with the "moral" of the story. This year was American Lit. and we read The Scarlett Letter, Huck Finn, A Gathering of Old Men, The Great Gatsby, A Street Car Named Desire, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Catcher in the Rye. Well it wasn't the worst group of books we have ever read, but still the only one I liked was Gatsby and Streetcar. I couldn't see why A Gathering of Old Men was so important, nothing happens in that book until the last 10 pages, the rest of the book is a bunch of old guys all claiming that they killed the same person...well big deal!

ok rant over.

well off to check other threads, have a great RotD everyone!

EDIT: "One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die" hmmm reprieve.............**cough, cough**Dumbledore**cough cough**

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Ponine - Jun 26, 2006 11:58 am (#1673 of 2979)

I just saw on yahoo that two more characters are going to die in book seven!!! :horribly depressed: Quote from yahoo (who quoted British Channel 4) "One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die" Noooooh!!! I can't tell you how worried this makes me... ...And today was such a good day...

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Gina R Snape - Jun 26, 2006 12:17 pm (#1674 of 2979)

I saw that today too.

I don't want to be a widow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Chemyst - Jun 26, 2006 12:46 pm (#1675 of 2979)

I think what has hurt US literacy the "most" is the lack of ability to read. — Loopy "the tyrant" Lupin

SPEW … and a simultaneous Ow.   This may be a dumb question, but how can a school, especially one for which you do not pay tuition, enforce any reading over the summer? Do they force the new teacher to give extra credit for stuff done before he/she even had that student?

Welcome back Finn & Jenn. 'Sounds like a good plan for your studies, Lizzy; happy studying!

On the Richard & Judy show interview– Gina, I hope the 'reprieve' part is good news for you.

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Steve Newton - Jun 26, 2006 12:50 pm (#1676 of 2979)

virginiaelizabeth, I remember a college history professor saying that he thought that The Scarlet Letter should have been subtitled 'How Hester got Her A.' I know, poor taste. I'm still glad that I never had to read it.

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azi - Jun 26, 2006 12:59 pm (#1677 of 2979)

Listening to the interview now. Have heard most information before. The two characters dying is interesting. I look forward to it. 'Well into the book' sounds promising!

Hope you enjoy school Lizzy!

Jenn - nice to see you around! Good luck with the apartment and everything!

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 26, 2006 1:06 pm (#1678 of 2979)

We can read the books just fine and understand them but, we can't relate to them at all. --- virginia Elizabeth

I find it funny that your list of books that you just can't relate to includes Catcher in the Rye . This book is supposed to be a big deal for people your age. I've always found Holden to be a whiney pain. I did when I was 16 and certainly do now. Good for you!

Chemyst, I suppose that the schools could enforce the summer reading list with three words on the first day of school: "Pop quiz everyone!"

I think there is some value in teaching the historical "classics"-- the "canon" if you will--in high school even if the students don't "relate." If you don't like the books because you find them dated, I think that is as valid a criticism as anything else one might say. Just because certain authors are supposed to be profound or certain books are supposed to be "high art" doesn't mean that they actually are. ****looks in Steinbeck's general direction****

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Winky Woo - Jun 26, 2006 2:14 pm (#1679 of 2979)

Sorry! My folks computer went down! I have now driven 50 miles home and I left my copious notes there... don't I feel dumb!

I'll see what I can remember, but don't quote me as I am paraphrasing!

Teenagers are her favourite age group to teach.

I think people have got the gist of the main point, that one character has got a reprieve and 2 she didn't want to kill off died! They don't target the extras they go for the main characters!

She has made a slight change to the ending, and the book whilst not finished she is well into it!

Never been tempted to kill him off before book seven. Richard asked her why not make it 9 books and she said that she always admired people who went out when they were on top, when people want more, worryingly she spoke of understanding authors like Agatha Christie who killed off characters so that they couldn't be written by anyone else.( Non-Author written sequels)!

She has written a fairy tale for younger children, which is pretty far on. Jo said that she has always said that would do a kind of encyclopedia of HP for Charity

Says she now realises how much back story to explain.

Quidditch was written in about half an hour after an argument with a boyfriend! That!s were she thought Bludgers came from!

She spoke of being the same idiot as yesterday and being defensive/po faced/a curmudgeon at various points.

Poor Jessica has been "metaphorically" held up against the school rails with kids demanding to know the title of the next book.

Harrys' parents were going to be killed flippantly until her mother died, and the Mirror of Esired is one of her favourite chapters in the entire series.

She was funny and self-deprecating, and she came across as relaxed and not on guard.

Kids asked questions.

Hermoine whilst based loosely on her (As we knew) but also her sister! she was the swotty part whilst her sister was the "House elf thing" more political part.

The other questions, we already knew the answers to such as her Boggart (Her family dead),Lockheart being based on a real character who she loathed, but the media pinned it on the wrong person.

Thats all I can remember! Crikey!

I wonder if anyone has got a transcript?

Winky XXX

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geauxtigers - Jun 26, 2006 2:31 pm (#1680 of 2979)

Mugglenet has the full interview up that you can watch.

She says some interesting stuff too check it out!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 26, 2006 2:41 pm (#1681 of 2979)

I find it funny that your list of books that you just can't relate to includes Catcher in the Rye . This book is supposed to be a big deal for people your age. I've always found Holden to be a whiney pain. I did when I was 16 and certainly do now. Good for you! Loopy

Well, as I said before, I read Catcher the last 2 weeks of school, and didn't really have time to read it, so I actually ended up reading Spark Notes and a few random chapters in it. Lot's of my friends liked it so I'm considering re-reading it this summer, though I'm sure I won't. I did find Holden a bit whiney, and the book was overall very repetitive.

If anyone wants to watch Jo on Richard and Judy you can see it here

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The giant squid - Jun 26, 2006 3:12 pm (#1682 of 2979)

I think what has hurt US literacy the "most" is the lack of ability to read. — Loopy Lupin

See that's the thing...the ability is there. Uncounted billions of people read every day, so human beings have the ability to read. There's just a growing number that don't have the desire, and I think being forced to read books that one doesn't want to doesn't help at all.

Then again, I'm still miffed that Robert Heinlein's works aren't considered "classics" outside of the Sci-Fi arena as it is...

--Mike

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timrew - Jun 26, 2006 3:25 pm (#1683 of 2979)

Well, for my A-Level exams (just below going to University) we had to read, Return Of The Native by Thomas Hardy. I don't know why, but I've hated Hardy ever since. I find him so verbose - except his poetry, that is. I quite like that! But his novels, they don't do a lot for me. I guess it's just me............

I much preferred, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales - On Ice. And Shakespeare's Little Caesar. Great works, both of 'em!

BTW, you can tell Wimbledon has arrived. It's started to rain - lots. The photograph is me, above the tennis courts..........

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Julie Aronson - Jun 26, 2006 6:25 pm (#1684 of 2979)

Mike,

Heinlein is a classic in my universe! I read Door into Summer at least every other year, and have since I was about 10. I'm also a HUGE Ray Bradbury fan. Halloween Tree, anyone?

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Puck - Jun 26, 2006 6:28 pm (#1685 of 2979)

Just because certain authors are supposed to be profound or certain books are supposed to be "high art" doesn't mean that they actually are. ****looks in Steinbeck's general direction**** -Loopy

Actually, I really enjoyed East of Eden. It was as if his words painted a picture for me. (I would have hated it in high school.) Also liked I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This was likely because I read it as an autobiography. Seeing how far a determined person can come is amazing. (You have to go beyond the book to see where Angelou is today, of course.)

Oops. Sorry about the birthday mix-up.

My boy had his first bee sting today. Just below his eye. Ouch! He made an announcement that he's never playing outside again, which is on par with his usual dramatic self.

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 26, 2006 6:45 pm (#1686 of 2979)

There's just a growing number that don't have the desire, and I think being forced to read books that one doesn't want to doesn't help at all.---the giant squid

I can't understand why you would say that. At my children's school, they get a sticker if they keep track of their reading each week. When I spoke to the teacher at the beginning of the year to express my concern over this "incentive" she said, and I quote, "But some kids won't read unless they get a sticker." After discussing this a bit more, I discovered her children happened to be those kids.

My friend's son wanted to talk "Harry Potter" to me a few years back. He had seen the movies. I refused to discuss all the theories and such until he had read the books. Within the summer, he had devoured all of them. And as a reward, I told him about DIGS.

I don't know why, but I've hated Hardy ever since. I find him so verbose - except his poetry, that is. I quite like that!---timrew

I distinctly remember my college English professor explaining how Hardy desperately wanted to be a poet rather than a novelist but was terrible at it. I loved his prose and thought the professor must be mistaken about his poetry---until I read some of it. Not to worry though Tim, according to Wikipedia, Philip Larkin agreed with you. Philip Larkin Wikipedia bio

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Stephanie M. - Jun 26, 2006 6:50 pm (#1687 of 2979)

Hi everyone!

Sorry to hear about your boy's bee sting, Puck! That must have been horrible for him!

I found out today from a completely random person (that I never knew was into Harry Potter) that there were to be 2 deaths in book 7. My friend and I then started talking about how it's about time we started to find some little things out about the book.

Wimbledon is here! Hope the weather clears up a little bit!

I start interning tomorrow. it should be a lot of fun, but i'll only be an intern, so I'll be doing lots of strenuous things such as moving boxes, and licking envelopes (not strenuous, but pretty boring).

Have a great rest of the day!

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Finn BV - Jun 26, 2006 6:59 pm (#1688 of 2979)

We have a recommended reading list though entering sixth, seventh, or eighth grades, you are supposed to have read three of those books. You have to write a paragraph on one of them, and it's not strictly enforced. No requirement in high school.

Jenn, good to see you around. Please take care of your family life before the forum. We'd love to have you around more, but we understand your situation. What's the current deal with your fiance, though? As I recall, you were still engaged.

Hi Audrey! Nice to see you up on this thread!

We read Frankenstein in seventh grade, and gosh is it tough. I always thought it and Dracula were on the same reading level – boy was I wrong! The language of Frankenstein is tough to get through, but it's an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I thought the reprieve meant that one character who she thought she was going to kill ended up not dying, but two who she weren't expecting to… erm… died.

Yeah, read Catcher last year too. Big hit among seventh graders, so, Ginny, it should be good for… 10th or 11th grade? Is that right? Anyway, I liked it.

If Jo does an encyclopedia of HP for charity, she better co-author it with Lexicon Steve!!!

Tim, SPEW on the photo of you being at Wimbledon. Yes, I think the rain gods just sort of know. "Wimbledon? Oh, let it storm."

Hehe Kathy, I'm sure your son's promise will be broken in about a day. Maybe two if it really hurt. Healing charms.

And as a reward, I told him about DIGS. –Kim

Well that was generous.

so I'll be doing lots of strenuous things such as moving boxes, and licking envelopes –Steph

Sounds like my fun Westchester things can't beat your NYC things.

Enjoy the RotD! No cymbal accidents today!

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Stephanie M. - Jun 26, 2006 10:09 pm (#1689 of 2979)

so I'll be doing lots of strenuous things such as moving boxes, and licking envelopes --Steph

Sounds like my fun Westchester things can't beat your NYC things. –Finn

I do more than that... I also stuff the envelopes that I lick! LOL I put press kits together, and make contact lists, and read random mail, and edit some of the online magazine things. LOL

I thought that Catcher was an AMAZING book. I've read it many times after 7th grade (when we were required to read it).

It's good to see you around Jenn! I hope everything goes well!

Off to sleep!

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geauxtigers - Jun 26, 2006 10:38 pm (#1690 of 2979)

I think one book that we read at too early of an age is The Giver we read it in 6th grade and I don't think we truly understood it. I don't remember it to much but I didn't like it and I remember hearing that maybe reading it when we were older would be better.. I dunno its a strange book not sure I could pick it up again.

I hope your job goes well Steph! If only the sticky stuff on envelopes tasted like chocolate...

Hope your son's bee sting gets better!

Off to the chat room for a while if anyone cares to join.

I also found out that I don't have to babysit the bratty kid tomorrow so I'm happy!

Have a great night everyone!

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Tazzygirl - Jun 26, 2006 11:03 pm (#1691 of 2979)

Puck: My boy had his first bee sting today. Just below his eye.

Ouch. I actually had a bee sting me just below my eye too when I was about 6. I couldn't see out of that eye for a day. **sympathy and healing charms to your boy**

I had a wonderful day today. Picked up my old boss from her house, and the we took the train up to Santa Barbara for the day. Bought a really cute pair of shoes (you can never have to many shoes! ), and had a really good Thai chicken pasta for lunch!

Off to finish the story for Potty Five Words!

~Kristina

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Mrs. Sirius - Jun 26, 2006 11:32 pm (#1692 of 2979)

Oh, so many posts, one simply cannot miss a day. Pardon me for skipping a few, but I am really excited, my cousin got a huge promotion at work and is having a party to celebrate in New York City. I haven’t been “home” in ages. I hope to get a chance to meet at least one Forummer’s. Gina will you be around?

Oddly, I enjoyed a “A Day In The Life Ivan Denesovich” (sp) which was not on my reading list but h-a-t-e-d The Scarlet Letter, which I never did finish. I also hated the Member of the Wedding and didn’t finish that one until after I finished school, when I did enjoy it.

After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, I went a several years long search to find the answer to that episode of holocaust, inhumanity, militarism and sadism. Everything from reading all titles I could find, to interviewing everyone who was alive at the time -how did you let this happen-. Unfortunately, there was no real answer and yes it continues today.

At my kids school the reading list is just a guide that we can use to help find appropriate material. But they don’t care if the children read all different titles as long as the Governors list comes back filled.

One of my 7 year old stared to read the HP books to herself about a month ago. She read the first 3 and is now on GOF. She has lost the book (grrrr!) so she is reading Gulliver’s Travels now.

Haymoni, 1984 is here and has been for at least 10 years. Look out.

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Regan of Gong - Jun 27, 2006 1:04 am (#1693 of 2979)

I read "A Soldiers Heart" in year 5. Messed me up a tad, some horrible images in there. I thought it was good book though, along with the "Hatchet" series.

Seems I'll have to read "The Catcher in the Rye". Whenever I here that title though, horrible stories about farming accidents with hay balers come to mind.

Congrats to the Socceroos as well for an awesome game against Italy. We really deserved to win that game. Penalty to Grosso on the 95th minute was ridiculous and a disgrace. Poor Lucas Neill wasn't moving on the ground and Grosso tripped over the top of him. The refereeing standard, although human, has been pretty poor this cup. Still wore my green and gold scarf to school today, they've done us Aussies proud.

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 5:17 am (#1694 of 2979)

Denise P - "Bing" was being used to tell other Forum members that there were new posts on The Potty 5 Words thread.

I suppose I could have typed "Hey! I just posted something on the Potty 5 Words thread!" but "Bing" is much easier - especially around 11:00 pm.

Mrs. S - Ungrateful Son lost our GOF too!!! The book is huge! How do you lose it???

I've never read "Catcher in the Rye" - Mel Gibson has made me a bit nervous about it.

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Denise P. - Jun 27, 2006 6:20 am (#1695 of 2979)

Well, World Crossing puts a yellow "New" icon when there are new posts in a thread and if there are already unread posts on a specific thread, there is a number next to the icon. That is an automatic way to let others know that there is something new posted without making an orphaned post totally unrelated to the flow of the conversation and aimed at only a few specific people. I think it is also confusing to people who are NOT part of that thread or new to the Forum. I know when my son was reading over my shoulder, he asked if that was the Forum way of bumping a post...something that ranks right up there with He Iz HoTtTt!!! kind of posts.

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 6:34 am (#1696 of 2979)

Sorry - I thought most folks had seen that.

I will refrain from "Binging".

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Steve Newton - Jun 27, 2006 6:44 am (#1697 of 2979)

I find those little yellow markers to be really annoying. Probably just me. I even go out of my way to clear threads that I don't read just to get rid of them.

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Puck - Jun 27, 2006 6:47 am (#1698 of 2979)

well, the bee sting is better, but my son is staying in today as he is sick. I was hoping to go berry picking this morning. Poor guy can't hold down water.

This interview with Jo makes me worried about the twins. Also is not sounding good for Harry surviving the series. Still, I love the way she phrases it, like she had no idea they were going to die -they just did. As if she has no control over it.

I want to put some things outside to dry in the sun, but the weather has a split personality today. Hot and sunny one minute, cool and rainy the next.

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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Gina R Snape - Jun 27, 2006 7:33 am (#1699 of 2979)

Mrs. Sirius, I will be around! Check your email.

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geauxtigers - Jun 27, 2006 9:53 am (#1700 of 2979)

Congrats to the Socceroos as well for an awesome game against Italy. We really deserved to win that game.

I know nothing about soccer, but that did look like a raw deal to me. The guy slipped! He didn't move on (it even looked like he tried to avoid tripping him) the ground and the Italian player dramatically tripped over him! Ahh well bad refereeing is something to get used to I guess. Just look what they did to the Seahawks in the Superbowl this year. 2 touchdowns called back, and they gave the Steelers a touchdown that was clearly not over the goal line! Even the guys in the booth were saying it was terrible!

I find the little yellow markers annoying too, so I read the threads I usually do then I click the 'mark as read' button at the top of the page to get rid of them.

This interview with Jo makes me worried about the twins. Also is not sounding good for Harry surviving the series. Still, I love the way she phrases it, like she had no idea they were going to die -they just did. As if she has no control over it.

Me too, but I have a feeling they might be more minor because the more major characters I don't see her messing around with too much. She’s so hard to read! GOSH!!! you got to love her for it though!

Puck, I hope you son gets better! poor thing a bee sting now he's sick

Off to check the threads!

Have a great day everyone!

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 10:12 am (#1701 of 2979)

I just hit "Read New" - if a thread comes up that hurts my head - Alchemy, Symbolism, Trivia - then I just hit "Mark as Read" and continue on.

The rain passed us by here in Kent, but it looks like it is permanently parked over Warren & Youngstown in eastern Ohio.

I think I am going to make salmon for dinner. I take some of that horseradish sauce and I coat 1 side of the salmon piece with it and dip it in breadcrumbs. I pan-fry it until it is crispy crunchy. Hubby likes it. The kids will hate it. Alas, earwax!

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Catherine - Jun 27, 2006 10:22 am (#1702 of 2979)

Haymoni, you can't convince them that the salmon is just upscale fish sticks? It sounds quite good.

I just got back from Chapel Hill *waves to Eponine, as she's close* where we celebrated our anniversary. Mr. Catherine surprised me with a getaway to a nice hotel and a romantic dinner out. It was a day early (today is the actual day) but I suppose that's better than being a day late! He really did get confused about the day, but...oh well...

Off to catch up threads and use the lovely "Obliviate" button where necessary.

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 10:30 am (#1703 of 2979)

What a nice surprise, Catherine! I'll take an anniversary celebration early, late or right on time!! How many years??

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VeronikaG - Jun 27, 2006 10:56 am (#1704 of 2979)

Is it OK if I just reappear out of the blue and join the book debate? I've been taking American and British literature this year and read some of the books you discussed.

For Am. lit. we read the much despised The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, Streetcar name Desire, The Great Gatsby, The Crucible and Fences.

The list of British books is much longer: King Lear, Wuthering Heights, Anna of the Five Towns, Oranges are not the only Fruit, Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea, The Rainbow, Mrs Dalloway, The Heart of the Matter and Lord of the Flies.

Surprisingly enough I didn't end up hating The Scarlet Letter or Wuthering Heights. I hated "Anna". It was just so awfully boring. I never read The Rainbow. I think my favourite book all year was The Heart of the Matter. It is something very sincere about the whole narrative, and the main character is extremely sympathetic even when he does wrong.

Ahhhh, it's nice to be back home...

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Jun 27, 2006 11:07 am (#1705 of 2979)

Happy anniversary Catherine!

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Denise P. - Jun 27, 2006 11:09 am (#1706 of 2979)

We are doing a forced Clean Sweep today. We are having laminate floors installed this week. We expected them to show up today or tomorrow so we were stunned (and unprepared) when we got a call yesterday and they asked if an hour was okay. We had to hustle to move three rooms of junk out of the way. A load was out on our deck...where it promptly rained and messed up some stuff despite being covered. I have been out on the deck sorting stuff into sell, donate, toss, keep piles and the keep pile is still alarming. I don't want to toss it but I don't want it in the house anymore. I think I need to get more ruthless. The living room is almost done and is beeyooteeful!

Another bummer, Danse Macabre, the newest Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake book came out today. I have it but I can't really justify sitting and reading it while my downstairs is sitting on my deck in disarray.

In good news, a friend of mine, once removed (friend of a friend) was auditioning yesterday for The Dresden Files! I said I wanted a crew shirt if she gets the part and I have been trying to figure out which part she was trying for.

Oh, bold baby bird (with his beak open) was sitting on the edge of the nest today...I think he may attempt to fly off before the end of the day.

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Puck - Jun 27, 2006 11:21 am (#1707 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary, Catherine and Mr. Catherine!!

Husbands do have trouble with dates. I was wondering aloud how I'd get through the summer with all 3 kids home. My hubby commented I'd had them all before. I pointed out that was only a week at a time during school vacations, and I was going nuts by the end. he asked about last summer. I had to point out to him that the baby hadn't been born yet. "Oh. Yeah."

Salmon sounds good. My kids occasionally consent to a bite of it.

I ignore the yellow dots unless I want to read a thread.

Time to get ready for dance class. My ballet group is full of real charmers. They ignore me completely and have no ability to separate from their parents to participate in class. Basically it's 40 minutes of crying with ballet music in the background.

Cheers,

Kathy

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Julie Aronson - Jun 27, 2006 11:23 am (#1708 of 2979)

Happy anniversary, Catherine!

Hey, what about Jeopardy?

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 27, 2006 11:30 am (#1709 of 2979)

LOL Kathy! healing charms to your son!

happy anniversary to Catherine and Mr. Catherine!

Denise, I hope your "Clean Sweep" is going well. I do that with my closet all the time, but usually get nowhere! We had the same problem with our two rooms that we had laminate installed in! We had to shove everthing in the office, which is basically our "toss all room" so it was a bit hard to do! We spraypainted the floors or "grafittied" them before we had the floors put it! It was lots of fun, if only I could see the faces of the people who live here after us, when they decide to chnage the floors! It's quite a mess!

off to check threads! Have a great day everyone!

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 11:38 am (#1710 of 2979)

Puck - The Beautifulest One's ballet teacher had cheap tiaras, boas and hats with feathers and let the girls wear them while they danced.

She put them in the corner farthest away from the parents so they'd have to actually detach themselves from us.

My daughter had absolutely no problem running away from me towards the costumes, but once the criers saw the other girls playing dress up, they wanted in on it too.

Of course, then you have the problem of getting them to take off the hats at the end...

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Good Evans - Jun 27, 2006 12:24 pm (#1711 of 2979)

just skipped 150 posts, do forgive me!!

I havent been around over the weekend been so busy with other things. Went to see the litter on Sunday - they are so cute, so I have already set up the puppy crate for when she comes home, Two weeks Thursday I can hardly believe it. the 13th is also our wedding anniversary (waves to Mr and Mrs Catherine who are currently celebrating!!), I have to go to work in the evening even though I have the day off as it is committee night and I have a report going.

ah well, off to check threads, have a great ROTD all

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haymoni - Jun 27, 2006 12:47 pm (#1712 of 2979)

Good Evans - what was your decision on the dog name? Was it Luna?

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Catherine - Jun 27, 2006 1:15 pm (#1713 of 2979)

Thanks for the wishes, everyone! Today is our fourteenth anniversary.

Alas earwax, no word from Jeoopardy yet! *pouts*

We had a very filling and fancy dinner out last night, so I'd thought I'd cook some comfort food and watch movies tonight. *it was pouring rain when we left; it rained the entire weekend before that; it is still raining--pretty soon I'm going to run out of movies*

Ooh, speaking of, I finally rented Lost and have finished the first season. Tonight is second season, although I may have to interrupt my viewing in order to watch Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D List." *waves to Loopy Lupin* Note: this show is not exactly forum or family friendly, but it is a guilty pleasure.

Condolences to the Denise family for the enforced "Clean Sweep," although I'm hoping the new floors will compensate for the soggy items and inconvenience.

Oh, and the puppies sound adorable, Good Evans!

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Denise P. - Jun 27, 2006 1:31 pm (#1714 of 2979)

Funny how things work. As I was cleaning boxes out, I came across a copy of The Little Prince This was sent to me years ago by a friend of mine. She is fluent in french despite being English but sent me a copy in English. I treasure the book because it came from her and is a favorite of hers. I never have read it so after I finish with my new book, I think I will sit down and read it.

I am finding stuff that I swear I have never seen before but I obviously put it where I found it, just years ago.

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Finn BV - Jun 27, 2006 2:46 pm (#1715 of 2979)

Darn, I couldn't get on the forum all day.

Happy Anniversary Catherine!

Denise, that's just why I love cleaning my room every six months or so… I find old stuff that has me reading for hours that… well… I never end up finishing the cleaning in one day, so I sleep in a guest bedroom, and usually finish the next day.

Picked up some crash cymbals today! But all went well.

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Stephanie M. - Jun 27, 2006 2:49 pm (#1716 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Catherine!!

I hope the bird flies alright! That's very exciting! And good luck on the Clean Sweep, Denise!

Sorry to hear that your sun is sick, Kathy! I feel so bad for him!

Good Evans, the puppies sound so cute!

Today was my first day of interning, and I learned why people NEED coffee (or caffeine). It wasn't that I was tired, but when you are doing the same tedious thing, you get so bored! But today, I got my own desk (that is VERY large), computer (an eMac) with my own log in, a phone, and a company screen name. I was soo excited when the computer guy came and told me that I had my own desk! (I was previously working in the Editor and Chief's office.) But today, Finn, I alphabetized and whole punched papers and put them in a binder! LOL Then I did about a quarter of another project, that involved going to yellowpages.com and other websites to search for cheerleading and dancing gyms or clinics to see if there are more than the ones listed in the last edition of the magazine (American Cheerleader's teacher and coaches handbook magazine) and if the places changed locations or phone numbers etc. I did not lick, stamp, stuff, or mail envelopes today.

Have a good rest of the day!!

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kaykay1970 - Jun 27, 2006 2:49 pm (#1717 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary Catherine!

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timrew - Jun 27, 2006 2:59 pm (#1718 of 2979)

Today I switched over from The World Cup to watch Wimbledon. I saw no spitting, no diving, no shirt-tugging, no trying to trip up members of the opposition. Fascinated, I carried on watching.

All I could see was men and women playing their sport to the best of their ability, while being applauded by an (almost) non-partisan audience, who didn't swear or throw chairs at each other!

And as for the referees, they weren't holding up the game every five minutes to issue yellow or red cards!

I think I'll continue to watch this sport of tennis, and leave the rest of The World Cup................I was getting fed-up with it anyway.

Oh, and geauxtigers, I think Australia were cheated out of the World Cup by Italy. That was never a penalty - the Italian dived!

One last thing; I was watching Doctor Who last week and there was this girl in it. First I thought, 'I know that voice'. Then I thought, 'I know those mannerisms'. It was a full ten minutes before I realised it was the actress who plays Moaning Myrtle!

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boop - Jun 27, 2006 3:04 pm (#1719 of 2979)

Kathy, sending healing charms your way.

Stephanie, good luck with you interning.

Veronika, Welcome back!!

Catherine, Happy Anniversary!!

Have a great rest of the day.

hugs always

boop

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Finn BV - Jun 27, 2006 3:40 pm (#1720 of 2979)

Oops, forgot to welcome back Veronika in my last post; Betty reminded me! So, welcome back!!

**hugs to Betty**

Steph, sounds fun!!

Tim, I'm glad we tennis enthusiasts have roped you in… even though it appears you still are stuck on top of our stadium.

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Julie Aronson - Jun 27, 2006 3:42 pm (#1721 of 2979)

Moaning Myrtle is in the movie for Bridget Jones' Diary, too. She plays Sharon (Shazzer).

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Catherine - Jun 27, 2006 3:43 pm (#1722 of 2979)

Boop, thank you!

It was a full ten minutes before I realised it was the actress who plays Moaning Myrtle!—Timrew

LOL!

There is a lovely Dr. Who "obsessed" man at our local grocery who always asks me if I've tuned in. Tim, congrats that you are the link to finally cause this to happen. I will tune in...

Of course, I'm still finally catching up to Lost, etc.

Peer pressure. It works!

Also, I would like to say that I always enjoy checking into our chat thread after I've been on vacation. Even if some of the other threads get "beyond the veil" for me.

Thanks SO much for the anniversary wishes. Mr. Catherine appreciates them, also.

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Jewel - Jun 27, 2006 4:56 pm (#1723 of 2979)

I know I'm coming in a little late but, Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Catherine anyway.

Also, to Puck, my son got his first sting last summer right below his right eye also and became sick the next day, from what I remember of the doctor’s visit, he had a delayed reaction to the sting, maybe that's what's wrong with your little one. I hope he is feeling better soon!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 27, 2006 5:26 pm (#1724 of 2979)

I am finding stuff that I swear I have never seen before but I obviously put it where I found it, just years ago.---Denise P.

Hmmmm, sounds to me like someone's doing a bit too much shopping on Ebay.

Catherine, you have Season 2 of Lost? I didn't think that had been released yet.

And I'm a little confused about Dr. Who. (Well, I'm confused about quite a few things but this is the only one I need answers to. ) Is this the same Dr. Who show that was on years and years ago? At least, I thought there was a show by that name. Or is this a new one? I always hear it talked about but I don't even know what network it's on or what it's about.

*:waves to Catherine*: Thanks for the heads' up.

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azi - Jun 27, 2006 5:38 pm (#1725 of 2979)

Lupin is Lupin - there is a new Dr Who series on BBC1 in the UK. In fact, it is the second new series of the show. I think Dr Who is played David Tennant (sp?), who I think played someone in GoF? I haven't seen GoF so don't know about that.

Happy Anniversary Catherine!

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Pigwidgeon - Jun 27, 2006 6:44 pm (#1726 of 2979)

David Tennant was Barty Crouch Jr.

Tim -- that was better than I did. I was watching Topsy Turvey, and it took me the entire movie to figure out the lady playing the lead soprano was "Myrtle," and I never did identify Tim Spall until later.

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Eponine - Jun 27, 2006 6:44 pm (#1727 of 2979)

*waves to Catherine* Happy Anniversary! Which restaurant did you visit in Chapel Hill? I know a few of the nicer restaurants there.

Stephanie, are you interning at a cheerleading magazine? I would have LOVED doing that when I was younger.

azi, the new Doctor is played by David Tennant who played Barty Crouch Jr. in GoF.

Well, I downloaded and watched the interview with Jo. I'm so nervous about who's going to die, but I still think that the Trio and Ginny are all going to survive.

I hope everyone has a great RotD!

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Denise P. - Jun 27, 2006 7:31 pm (#1728 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary to Catherine and Mr. Catherine!

Hmmmm, sounds to me like someone's doing a bit too much shopping on Ebay.

That could happen (but didn't) but since the specific item I was thinking of was a nicely printed book, tied with a ribbon and had a picture of my great-great-grandmother, my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, me and then my daughters.....I tend to think it was sent to me by my Aunt Margie. It said "Happy Mother's Day" on the front so I got it in May....of some year

All baby birds are gone, I was there when the last one left the nest and promptly was almost eaten by my dog when it flew into our backyard. We chased the bird brain back out into the wide field so it could remain unharmed by a member of our household.

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Mediwitch - Jun 27, 2006 8:09 pm (#1729 of 2979)

So many posts after a couple of days off!

Finn: this is the same place of the infamous crash cymbal incident  Don't sweat it Finn - my conservatory Wind Ensemble conductor used to tell us not to be a bunch of wimps, if we were gonna make a mistake, he wanted to hear it!

Denise P.: We are doing a forced Clean Sweep today.  Oh, I feel your pain!!! My goal this summer is to make a major clean sweep of our house. We had to clean out my in-laws' house this year and it was horrible because they NEVER threw anything away (even washed out the sundae cups from McDonald's and kept 'em; why, I'll never know!). It was a two-bedroom house and we threw out 2 twenty-yard dumpsters of JUNK; that was just the stuff that was too dirty or gross or whatever, never mind the stuff we kept or gave away!     I swore I wouldn't do that to our kids, so I am on a rampage this summer. Mr. Mediwitch says he doesn't dare sit still for too long or I might throw him out too!  

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 27, 2006 8:32 pm (#1730 of 2979)

Well I just finished The Metamorphosis! I read it in about an hour and a half! It was only 52 pages, which I admit, is the only reason I picked it. I didn't really like it much, a bit dull and not to mention weird. Gregor seemed all to unphased by becoming a bug, not a very normal reaction. I think I'd freak out if I woke up as a bug! Oh well that's done now but I must say Kafka is up there with Faulkner, they're both insane! Where did he get this idea from?? I couldn't even find a moral or purpose of the story...is that a bad thing??

I have a feeling this will be my 10th post of the day, which is bad because I've got nothing to do tonight as mom is reading the HP book that I was in the middle of. I let her read it again in hopes that she will become as obsessed as me(maybe a premium membership then)and I have read them more times than I can count!

I won't be on till late tomorrow as I have to babysit devil child!

Have a great RotN everyone!

***I'll be in the chat if anyone cares to join! If I don't answer I probably just don't have the screen open at that particular moment but II'll check back often!***

EDIT:yep last post!

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geauxtigers - Jun 27, 2006 9:02 pm (#1731 of 2979)

Yeah I've decided to read Kafka's book tonight too. Up at O' dark thirty tomorrow to babysit the annoying one for 12 hours. I think I'll lay and bed and read til I fall asleep which hopefully won't be long since I'll be up so early.

Night everyone!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 28, 2006 1:40 am (#1732 of 2979)

Interpreting the picture and date...Happy anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Denise!

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azi - Jun 28, 2006 2:51 am (#1733 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary Denise P!

I think we've gone from the birthday to the anniversary time of year. I should get a 'Happy Anniversary' smiley...

Hoping I'll get my project done today. That is, if the contractors outside my room stop drilling the concrete. Why the university tell us not to make any noise so as not to distract people studying and then allow noisy contractors to distract you, I don't know! I only have one bit of the evil stats to do (a frequency histogram which doesn't want to be made - I have to use computer programs or I'd draw it purely to make life easier). Unfortunately, the word limit is 3000 words, and I'm on 2800 with an 800-1000 word section to go. Ooops. I feel a massive editing job making it's way towards me!

Better go work.

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Good Evans - Jun 28, 2006 5:18 am (#1734 of 2979)

honestly Azi - muffliato???????? (and you call yourself a witch? ) hope the nasty man takes his Drill away soon!!

Happy Anniversary Denise,

Tim I agree, that Italian dived / dove???

Haymoni - yes we have decided on Luna. two weeks tomorrow til I have a four footed friend again!!

happy days everyone!

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Catherine - Jun 28, 2006 6:01 am (#1735 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary to Denise and Mr. P!

LOL to Mediwitch about your own "clean sweep." Mr. Catherine has been spending a few days this month up in Richmond helping his parents clean out their attic *insert horror smiley here*: because they are moving to Pennsylvania. It's been...interesting!

Have a good day, everyone.

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Marie E. - Jun 28, 2006 6:37 am (#1736 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary to the Catherine's and the P's!

I have been in denial since Friday about being sick, but now I'm waving the white flag and going to the doctor. I think it's a sinus infection. I want to get it taken care of before we go on vacation. We're going to Virginia, leaving on July 11. We're taking about maybe going to Busch Gardens. We were there three years ago and Shayla was mad about not being tall enough to ride the "cool" rides. I hate to say that she's not much taller now, but past that 4 foot mark.

We need to do a Clean Sweep of our garage. When we moved in this house two years ago, Mr E just sort of threw things in and was supposed to clean them out later. Now he has other things piled in front of the old boxes. I would like to be parking in the garage (park in the garage? What a concept!  ) by October.

Have a lovely day!

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haymoni - Jun 28, 2006 6:41 am (#1737 of 2979)

People park in their garage???

We only manage to do it in the winter. Summer is too crazy with bikes, skateboards, sporting equipment, lawnmowers, etc.

Every year we say that we are going to get a shed and every year we don't.

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The giant squid - Jun 28, 2006 6:46 am (#1738 of 2979)

Happy anniversary to Mr. & Mrs. P., and happy anniversary +1 to Mr. & Mrs. Catherine.

Is it OK if I just reappear out of the blue—VeronikaG

Nope, that's not allowed. You'll have to reappear out of the fuschia. Welcome back, we've grown much odder in your absence.

I have been out on the deck sorting stuff into sell, donate, toss, keep piles and the keep pile is still alarming.--Denise P.

When you get done, go back to the "keep" pile and start the whole process over again. theoretically you should be able to winnow it down some more. I say theoretically because I inherited the packrat gene from both of my parents; it takes an act of Congress to get me to throw something away.

my conservatory Wind Ensemble conductor used to tell us not to be a bunch of wimps, if we were gonna make a mistake, he wanted to hear it!—Mediwitch

My high school band teacher had the same philosophy. "It's your mistake, own it! Be proud of it!" It was his subtle way of making us less timid and more confident. You've got to take a chance at hitting a bad note if you want to get to the good ones. That's an analogy that can work anywhere, if you think about it (but I won't...it's too late/early).

I saw Superman Returns last night. Wow. Let me just say that it's the first time I've seen a sequel that was worth waiting 20 years for. They used John Williams' original theme (Abbycadabra would be proud) and the opening titles made me feel like that 8-year-old kid again.

--Mike

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VeronikaG - Jun 28, 2006 7:39 am (#1739 of 2979)

*Appears out of the fuschia*

Happy anniversaries to Mrs and Mr Catherine and Mrs and Mr Denise!

*waves to Boop, Finn and SqidMike* Thanks for welcoming me back.

David Tennant seems to be popping up in lots of productions lately. Last year I hadn't even heard of him, but by now I've seen him in Blackpool and Casanova and found out he's in Dr. Who and GoF. I hang my head in SHAME and admit not having seen GoF, but I think Tennant must be very right for Barty jr. He sort of has that ability to be both unsympathetic and appealing at the same time. (At least in Blackpool.) I don't find him as attractive as many women claim he is though, but I really like him as an actor.

Off to read speculations now.

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haymoni - Jun 28, 2006 7:55 am (#1740 of 2979)

He wasn't attractive in GOF either.

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Ydnam96 - Jun 28, 2006 8:19 am (#1741 of 2979)

Hey guys!

Catherine said someone had asked about me...I'm okay. I just have been very busy. I got a promotion of sorts at work and I've been working a lot more. I love the work though.

I did just come back from a mini-vacation. I spent a few days with my mom at Disneyland. It was super exciting. The World Premier of Pirates was on Saturday. We didn't get tickets to the screening but we hung around outside the park. We were hoping to get pictures of Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom but they brought all the stars in through a "backstage" area. But we did get to go on the brand new Pirates ride. It was amazing.

I had to push the magic button because there were over 1700 posts on this thread! I hope that everyone is doing well. Happy Birthdays to all.

:)Mandy

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 28, 2006 8:21 am (#1742 of 2979)

I saw Superman Returns last night. Wow. Let me just say that it's the first time I've seen a sequel that was worth waiting 20 years for. – Mike

I must say that is encouraging because the reviews have been mixed, at best.

Happy Anniversaries to Catherine and Denise. Woo Hoo!!!

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azi - Jun 28, 2006 8:39 am (#1743 of 2979)

Julie - they disappeared just after I read your post!

I have finished my project. Have a mere 1000 words to lop out!

Hey Ydnam! Hope you continue enjoying work!

I thought David Tennant was really funny in Casanova! I don't think he's particularly pretty, but a good actor he is, from what I've seen.

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Lina - Jun 28, 2006 8:40 am (#1744 of 2979)

It is just too difficult for me to remember all that I wanted to say.

Belated happy birthday to all to whom it apply!
Happy anniversaries!
Healing charms to all that need them!
Veronika and Mandy, it is always a pleasure to have you around!

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Eponine - Jun 28, 2006 9:25 am (#1745 of 2979)

He wasn't attractive in GOF either. – Haymoni

Oh, I beg to differ. =)

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 28, 2006 9:31 am (#1746 of 2979)

Hey Kim! The Lost Second Season DVD is out and on sale. (Sheesh, they released that with little fanfare.) So, if you go to Amazon you can buy it. Yay!

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Good Evans - Jun 28, 2006 10:06 am (#1747 of 2979)

yay Azi !!!!!

Mandy - dont you worry about that little magic button, we all use it from time to time

You know I dont find David Tennant unattractive!! especially compared to the Dr Who aliens and like!! I haven't seen Casanova so can't comment on his appearance in that! I think his face has character and a very mischievous smile!

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Tazzygirl - Jun 28, 2006 10:33 am (#1748 of 2979)

Happy (late) Anniversary to the Catherines!

Happy Anniversary to the Denise P.s! And good luck with the clean sweep!

Welcome back VeronikaG.!

Glad to see you around, Mandy! Disneyland sounded like fun! I was supposed to go with my mom sometime this week, but we decided to wait until August, when my siblings and I are here for my dad's birthday. How was the new Pirates Ride?

I come from a looong line of neat, organized freaks. My dad is very picky about his garage. Nothing can be out of place, and the cars have to be parked just so. I think the only people in my family who are packrats and disorganized are my aunt and uncle whom I live with in Hawaii.

My brother called last night and said he liked Superman too. So now I have a list of movies I want to see before I leave- Superman, Click, and The Devil Wears Prada.

Good luck with your project, Azi! I find that having to have a certain amount of words is easier to write than having to require so many pages in a report.

One more week and I am back in Hawaii!
Hope you all have a fantastic RotD/N!

~Kristina

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haymoni - Jun 28, 2006 11:33 am (#1749 of 2979)

Eponine - He looked OK when he was kneeling by Voldy's chair and when he was walking around the ruins at the World Cup.

Something about that tongue-flicking thing just really gave me the creeps.

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Puck - Jun 28, 2006 12:07 pm (#1750 of 2979)

Thanks for the tip, Haymoni! Yesterday was better. Down to one crier and 1 sulker.

Jewel, I had wondered that about the bee sting, if it could be delayed that long. Do I now have to worry about a bee allergy? (That would be bad, as he's not supposed to have the medication for that, due to his heart problem.)

Dr. Who was in GoF? I'll have to watch for the Myrtle episode. Hubby has it on TiVo, but is behind in his watching. The only reason I picked up on her in Bridget Jones is because she was crying in the bathroom.

Happy Anniversary, Denise and Mr. Denise!!

We got to pick our berries this morning. I was there a few minutes before they opened in my effort to beat the rain. Diva start to ask to leave a few minutes before the it started to sprinkle. We were inside the farmstand by the time it was pouring. Perfect timing! I baked angel food cake to eat with some of the berries tonight.

Off to the library!

Cheers!

Kathy

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Mediwitch - Jun 28, 2006 1:36 pm (#1751 of 2979)

Puck -

Certain medications for cardiac problems can delay an allergic reaction. You might want to check in with his doctor if he is taking any cardiac meds, just in case. I did an ambulance call once for a woman who had been stung several hours earlier, then came to a town meeting and proceeded to pass out in front of everyone (including half the ambulance squad - she got very prompt care! ), the poor thing. Her cardiac meds caused the delayed response to the sting.

Happy Anniversary and Birthday Balloons to all!

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boop - Jun 28, 2006 3:16 pm (#1752 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary Mr.&Mrs. Denise!! Have a great day!

Marie, I am sending healing charms your way.

Welcome Back Mandy, you have been missed.

Have a great rest of the day!

hugs always

boop

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Finn BV - Jun 28, 2006 3:20 pm (#1753 of 2979)

Welcome back Ms (Miss) Amanda!

Happy Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Denise! Great picture!

Healing charms to Marie!

Mike, I've never taken a great interest in Superman, and thus have never read the comic nor seen the other films. However, this movie is getting great reviews. (ETA: Loopy, your DC reviewers take drastically different views than the NYC reviewers…) Do you think I can just hop in and be okay?

**waves back to my Norwegian friend who appeared out of the fuschia**

Congrats to Mandy on her promotion, and we hope to be seeing more of you soon!

Eponine, your avatar is reminding me of the looming medley of "Wicked" we are playing Friday… interestingly enough, I have been perfect on the crash cymbals so far, plus I'm covering gong and mallets… ooh…

**hugs to Boop**

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 28, 2006 5:10 pm (#1754 of 2979)

Ahhh, back from another lonnnnnnng 12-hour day of babysitting. I'm pretty tired but I've got a hamburger hot off the grill so I'll be ok

I can't really remember what else I was going to say so I'll just end it here!

Have a good RotD!

EDIT:Lillie P. I think I might try to summon some of that water down here. Everyone's grass is brown and crunchy and all of our plants are drooping horribly from lack of water. We have had the sprinklers running for over 4 weeks here! It's awful we've had no rain total's at all for the month of June, and it's almost over!

kaykay, I'm sorry to hear about your dog.

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kaykay1970 - Jun 28, 2006 5:19 pm (#1755 of 2979)

My chow Simba has gone on to the next great adventure today. He just turned 12 on Saturday. Anyway the poor old guy was nearly blind and deaf and had arthritis, but I still loved him.

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Lilly P - Jun 28, 2006 5:22 pm (#1756 of 2979)

I GIVE UP!!! Im waving my white flag! North Carolina is underwater! I tried to go out and buy the new LKH book too Denise P. but the roads are completely flooded! I made it a mile off the base and there were little sports cars stuck in the road with water up to the tops of their tires, the traffic was backed up around all the cars that were stuck and I spent an hour trying to find a road to the mall that wasnt flooded, but no luck. If anyone knows a spell to dry up our weather, it would be much appreciated! I think my poor tomatoes and zucchinis are waterlogged, does anyone have a tip for bringing them back to health from being over-watered? they are all yellow and spindley now.

OK, complaining is over now, on the positive side, we did a HP movie marathon and I didnt feel guilty for letting my daughter watch that much TV in one day since the weather is so nasty! Happy anniversaries to all those that I missed while the internet was down because of the storms and the birthdays too, so sorry for the little boy who got stung, my daughter just had her first run in with a fire ant last week, its not fun.

sympathy charms for kaykay I'm one of those people whose dog is another child so I so I send loving thoughts your way. sorry for the long post guys, I had to catch up!

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Mediwitch - Jun 28, 2006 5:33 pm (#1757 of 2979)

(((*hugs*))) to kaykay and *drying charms* to Lilly P. (Let me know if the drying charms work - we aren't quite as bad off in my part of New England but it's not the Sahara Desert here, either! )

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Finn BV - Jun 28, 2006 5:42 pm (#1758 of 2979)

Totally agree with Mediwitch on those comments about the rain – good luck to you, Lilly P.

And kaykay, how sad. Cheering charms to you and your family. To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

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geauxtigers - Jun 28, 2006 5:55 pm (#1759 of 2979)

Yeah send rain please! It's terrible down here, granted the weather has been pretty, blue skies ect, but its not so pretty when you look everywhere but the sky. **Summons water from the east coast**

Sorry about your dog KayKay, Happy Anniversary to everyone I forgot to say this yesterday too...

We need to clean sweep our attic, we have stuff from a garage sale we tried to have when I was in 4th grade and half the stuff is still up there and other things have been accumulating since. We need to clean it out this winter, but then again we've been saying that for 7 years now...

I find that having to have a certain amount of words is easier to write than having to require so many pages in a report. Me too, you should see the stuff people do to get that one last page in! With words, you can do the it is vs "it's" and does not vs doesn't. Maybe thats why they make it by the page now vs the word.

I know I've forgotten some stuff...

Later everyone and have a great day!

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boop - Jun 28, 2006 6:08 pm (#1760 of 2979)

KayKay, sorry to hear about your family pet. (((HUGS)))

Drying Charms to anyone who is getting alot of rain. We had a rain free day here. My grass needs cut so bad, but we had thunder and lightning so couldn't mow today. The weeds keep getting taller. My grass was brown but not anymore.

hugs

boop

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Catherine - Jun 28, 2006 7:16 pm (#1761 of 2979)

Urggh.

We STILL have rain--make this this over a week of straight thundery-cloudly-rainy days.

And...my computer collapsed. Hard drive--we're still in collecting mode.

Kaykay--sorry about your beloved doggie. We have here a most elderly pet--losing hair, teeth, and memory like crazy, but she's still our great girl, Phoebe is, at age 13. I dread the day when I have to say the words that she is really gone. She is named after Phoebe Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye. She's been with us since the days of early marriage, so it is sobering to think that we won't always be together just yet.

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Denise P. - Jun 28, 2006 7:17 pm (#1762 of 2979)

Kaykay, sorry to hear about your beloved Simba. It is tough to lose a family pet after so long.

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Puck - Jun 28, 2006 7:24 pm (#1763 of 2979)

(((Kaykay)))

Mediwitch, I hadn't heard about that before, but he does take a beta blocker. The baby has her check-up on Friday, so I will mention it to the doctor then. Thanks for the information!

Incidentally, we can -and do- park our cars in the garage. I cannot, however, walk through my basement.

Lilly, hope you dry out soon. We're wet, but not that wet.

Actually, the weather cleared enough to go for a walk after dinner. Went something like this; "I want to be the leader!" "No, I'm the leader!" "No, I am!" "But I want to be the leader!" "I'm mad at you!" **commence sulking and pouting**

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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kaykay1970 - Jun 28, 2006 8:09 pm (#1764 of 2979)

Thanks for the cheering charms and the hugs.

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Tazzygirl - Jun 28, 2006 9:12 pm (#1765 of 2979)

(((HUGS))) to Kay and her family.

**drying charms to those who need it** (California could do with some rain too!)

There was something else I was going to say, but I forgot...

Off to watch Lawrence of Arabia with my parents.

~Kristina


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The giant squid - Jun 28, 2006 11:59 pm (#1766 of 2979)

Mike, I've never taken a great interest in Superman, and thus have never read the comic nor seen the other films. However, this movie is getting great reviews. Do you think I can just hop in and be okay?--Finn BV

Actually, that's one of the things that makes this such a good sequel. Bryan Singer was smart enough to make the references vague enough that you don't need to have seen the others. It just adds to the story. Honestly, it would have been rather presumptuous to assume everyone going to the movies today has seen films that came out 26 years ago.

Loopy, there's a real easy way to separate the mixed reviews: professional critics don't like it, "normal" people do.

Hugs to Kaykay.

Hugs to boop, too, just 'cause.

Those of you who are experiencing excessive moisture, lay off the drying charms. Just apparate it Westward so the rest of us can cool off a bit. Our highs for the last week were over 110 (43 C). I'm not looking forward to July & August...

--Mike

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Snuffles - Jun 29, 2006 12:47 am (#1767 of 2979)

Happy (late) anniversary to Mr and Mrs Catherine and to Mr and Mrs .P.

Kathy, I hope your little one is feeling better.

Kaykay ((((hugs))) Sorry to hear about your dog. There seems to be alot of our canine friends going on to the next great adventure recently

Mike, I don't know how you cope with that kind of heat! I remember being in Las Vegas when I was younger and at about midnight the temperatures had cooled down to a more pleasant 100 degrees Thank goodness for air con!!!!

Hope everyone has a good Thursday

Julie

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azi - Jun 29, 2006 2:25 am (#1768 of 2979)

**hugs** to Kaykay.

I finished my project and we have sun! Woohoo! Max today is apparently 22 degrees Celcius, which is perfect temperature for me.

Drying charms to the flooded people, rainy charms to the parched people.

I can't cope with temperatures just short of 30 C, so I don't think I'd cope with Las Vegas!

Better go start packing - I'm supposed to go home today!

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

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Snuffles - Jun 29, 2006 2:35 am (#1769 of 2979)

azi, you had better get prepared then.

The forecast for this weekend is hot, hot, hot!!

I'm going to enjoy it! Blink and you miss the summer here

Julie

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azi - Jun 29, 2006 3:24 am (#1770 of 2979)

Hehe, Snuffles, I'd better get the sun tan lotion on then!

Was the 'hot, hot, hot' a reference to Big Cook Little Cook perchance?

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Snuffles - Jun 29, 2006 3:32 am (#1771 of 2979)

Eek, it could have been. That programme has been brainwashed into me over the past couple of years!

*note to self* must stop watching cbeebies!!!!

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azi - Jun 29, 2006 4:00 am (#1772 of 2979)

Cbeebies is fun. Although I only watch Big Cook Little Cook and Balamory. The other programmes are a bit too young for me.

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Puck - Jun 29, 2006 5:22 am (#1773 of 2979)

British Kiddie shows, I take it?

(Well, Julie has an excuse, at least. )

Finn, pssst, did you forgot about potty games? We've been guessing letters, but you've left us "Hanging"

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Marie E. - Jun 29, 2006 6:35 am (#1774 of 2979)

We've had some rainy days here, thank goodness. It keeps the fires down in the mountains. Unfortunately it's been raining every time we plan a water play day for the daycare kids. They think it's a conspiracy now. Lol.

I'm officially diagnosed with a sinus infection and now have excellent antibiotics. I should be feeling better by tomorrow. I caught it early this time, before the barking cough got started. I talked with my doctor about maybe getting better allergy medicine. I think the over-the-counter Claretin isn't cutting it.

Lexie lost her fifth tooth yesterday and actually pulled it out herself. She was showing me how loose it was and I said "Oh, go pull it out already" so she went to a mirror and yanked it out! This is the girl who wouldn't even let us touch her last loose tooth.

Happy Almost-Friday!

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Solitaire - Jun 29, 2006 10:09 am (#1775 of 2979)

((((((((((Kay))))))))) So sorry to hear about your dog. When you have had a pet that long, it is like losing one of the family. I have two Shelties--Quinn, 14, and Stoney, 10. Quinn is still pretty lively (though deaf as a doorknob), but I know it's coming, and I'm already dreading it. Hang in there.

Solitaire

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Winky Woo - Jun 29, 2006 10:26 am (#1776 of 2979)

(((*hugs*))) to Kaykay and *drying charms*/*rain charms* as appropriate to those that need them.

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 29, 2006 10:31 am (#1777 of 2979)

Man, they really need to make all temperature units the same! This converting back and forth between Celcius and Farenheit is driving me mad!

Yesterday was much cooler for us as the afternoon high was only 91F (33C) but today it's back up to 96! We generally have 2 seasons here, summer and fallwinterspring. It is not unusual to wake up on Christmas morning to 80 degree weather! But winter usually comes in January and February!

Well off to check threads! Have a great day everyone!

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geauxtigers - Jun 29, 2006 11:12 am (#1778 of 2979)
Edited Jun 29, 2006 11:47 am

I agree, why we Americans insist on being different, we are the only country (I think theres one other but forgot who) that doesn't use degrees C! And that makes a lot more sense to me, metric unit is based on 10, not random numbers!

Yeah a perfect example of our "winter" would be last Christmas, it was near 80 F (27C), then On New Years Eve, we had snow flurries! All it did was collect in wet piles under the eves, but hey when you are snow deprived, watery ice is still fun to sling at each other! But the coldest month is January, but by mid Feburary its up in the 80s again.

Hope you feel better Marie E! Zyrtec is a great allergy medicine for me... clariten didn't work for me either.

It's Thursday, which is good because its so hopeful because tomorrow is Friday!

Have a great day everyone!

EDIT: Ha ha Lupin is Lupin! But it still seems dumb and conversions are a royal pain!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 29, 2006 11:43 am (#1779 of 2979)

I agree, why we Americans insist on being different, we are the only country (I think theres one other but forgot who) that doesn't use degrees C! And that makes a lot more sense to me, metric unit is based on 10, not random numbers!---geauxtigers

Because it is a charming quirk that adds romance to life.

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 29, 2006 12:11 pm (#1780 of 2979)

Loopy, there's a real easy way to separate the mixed reviews: professional critics don't like it, "normal" people do.—Mike

I should probably hold off on my declarations that reviews are mixed until more votes are in. The tomato meter on rottentomatoes.com is at 76% which is pretty good. It probably won't be a surprise to anyone that I actually do pay attention to certain critics, Ebert in particular. Maybe he's actually influenced my taste in movies given that I used to watch him when his show was on PBS, but I find that I agree with him more often than not. He only gave Supes two stars. Hopefully this will be a movie that I disagree with him about because I need a good Superman flick.

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Nathan Zimmermann - Jun 29, 2006 1:13 pm (#1781 of 2979)

Hi all, I am in need of some advice. I am working on a project for my legal research class on the subject of McCarthyism and effect it had on the various aspects of the law especially in regards to first, fifth, and fourteenth amendment rights. I am curious to know whether any of the members could suggest any books or films that could shed light on the period. On another note I was not sure whether to place my question here or on the recommended reading thread?

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haymoni - Jun 29, 2006 1:22 pm (#1782 of 2979)

Wasn't that one of the main points of "The Way We Were"?

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Lina - Jun 29, 2006 1:52 pm (#1783 of 2979)

Kay, sorry to hear about Simba. Hugs. I hope it is not some curse on the Forum... Maybe it is just that there are so many pets around.

Drying charms and transapparating charms for the water in all flooded areas. I just hope that all the water will stay away from your homes.

Woo hoo for Azi and the project. Enjoy the holidays!

I think I have decided: I'd like to spend the winters in Louisiana and the summers here.

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Catherine - Jun 29, 2006 4:01 pm (#1784 of 2979)

Well, I just got back from Superman Returns.

I was entertained. I thought the first part of the movie was a bit slow, but overall, I enjoyed it. It doesn't hurt that I am a Kevin Spacey fan and he rocked as Lex Luthor. Also, I had a huge crush on Christopher Reeve after Superman 2--give me a break, I was 12!!, and Routh channels Reeve well (almost too well, actually).

Trelawney's Inner Eye could have foretold a weakness for a dark-haired hero in glasses with the ability to fly and willingness to vanquish evil.

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Chemyst - Jun 29, 2006 4:03 pm (#1785 of 2979)

Kay, I too, am sorry about Simba. And, Lina, I agree with you that it is more that we love many pets than it being any curse on the Forum.

Because it is a charming quirk that adds romance to life. There is that, of course…   but I like the extra precision of Fahrenheit scale too.

I'm glad to hear Routh channels Reeve well because someone reminded me of his acting like a board from his soap opera days and...   it wasn't super.

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Catherine - Jun 29, 2006 4:19 pm (#1786 of 2979)

I'm glad to hear Routh channels Reeve well because someone reminded me of his acting like a board from his soap opera days and... it wasn't super.—Chemyst

Well, call me Parvati or Lavender, but I may have been distracted by his other attributes.

Actually, he did fine. He probably relied on Christopher Reeve's interpretation--and maybe too much so, not enough innovation--but I enjoyed the film supremely.

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boop - Jun 29, 2006 5:12 pm (#1787 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Mischafan(Jim) I hope you have a great day!!

Happy Birthday wishes for Solitaire on June 30.

Have a great day!!

hugs always

boop

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Stephanie M. - Jun 29, 2006 5:44 pm (#1788 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to Mischafan!

Happy belated Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Denise! I wish you many, many more happy and healthy years together! And I love your avatar!

I'm soo sorry to hear about your dog, Kaykay!! At least Simba lived a happy life!

I have never seen thunder and lightening as intense as I saw today. About an hour ago, we saw endless lightening bolts going through the sky. It was crazy, and very scary!

Yesterday, they closed 1st avenue (I live between 1st and 2nd avenue, and I overlook 1st avenue from my window) from my block to 4 blocks north of us because there was a bomb scare. Luckily there was no bomb, but it was extremely frightening when I went down and stood with the crowd to see what was going on. There were massive police cars (that look like small silver trucks), police cars, the fire department, and bomb sniffing dogs roaming the 4 block radius. It was so scary, but they worked everything out in about 2 hours... but there was a lot of traffic since no cars were allowed through at rush hour.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! I am going to the Jersey Shore with my family, and we are meeting up with all of my parents' close friends from college. It should be pretty fun if it doesn't rain the entire time!

My computer is going in to be fixed tomorrow, so if there is anything else wrong with it besides the keyboard, then they will have the long weekend to fix it.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

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Puck - Jun 29, 2006 6:43 pm (#1789 of 2979)

Happy Birthday, Solitaire!

Nice visit with Mom today. Though, Diva got car sick on the ride home. My boy was complaining that I had him playing with the baby to keep her happy while I was taking care of Diva. I gave him a choice; play with s his sister or clean the van. He played with the baby.

Baby crying. Another long night, I suspect.

Happy RotD,

Kathy

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Mediwitch - Jun 29, 2006 7:26 pm (#1790 of 2979)

Sympathies on the long night, Puck. Hope you get some rest!

And Happy Birthday, Solitaire! Birthday

We've got another thunderstorm rolling in, so I don't know how long I'll stay on tonight! It's the third one today!

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Julie Aronson - Jun 29, 2006 7:56 pm (#1791 of 2979)

Congrats, well-wishes, and sympathies wherever appropriate...

Correcting a previous error, the Moaning Myrtle actress actually played Bridget Jones' friend, Jude, in the movies.

That is all.

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Solitaire - Jun 29, 2006 8:43 pm (#1792 of 2979)

Aw, thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!

My thoughts and prayers are with all who are contending with the rain and flooding. If only there were some transcontinental underground pipe system (like the one used by the Basilisk, only bigger) to direct that water out here ... where we need it! I wonder why someone doesn't look into that.

Solitaire

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 29, 2006 9:52 pm (#1793 of 2979)

Steph that's pretty scary! Glad it was ok though.

Happy Birthday Solitaire!!!

Nothing new here, just got home from babysitting again. I'm getting super excited cause we're going to Houston on the 5th and 6th! I can't wait to shop in the Galleria!! We are going to an Astros game too so Tori is excited, it'll be fun!

Almost 4th of July!! We are going to my aunts house as they live in a different parish and fireworks are legal. Their neighbors are serious rednecks and built a homemade cannon a few years back that they set off wuite regularly throughout New Years and 4th of July. It sounds like gun fire, pretty cool! I can't wait to satisfy my pyro streak. 4th of July means there is a good excuse to play with fire!! :evil grin:

Off to check threads, have a great RotN everyone!

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geauxtigers - Jun 29, 2006 10:04 pm (#1794 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to Soli, and Mischa!

Yes we are going to Houston!!!!!! 4th of July will be fun as I too am a serious pyro! I love fire!!! so fireworks are pretty awesome!

I think I have decided: I'd like to spend the winters in Louisiana and the summers here. -Lina, I'll be more than willing to make an agreement there! lol!

I'm kinda hyper tonight and I think this will be my 10th post so I might just go to the chat for a while. I was going to say something else, but I can't remember what... oh well

Have a great night/morning everyone!

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Tazzygirl - Jun 29, 2006 11:23 pm (#1795 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Soli and Mischafan!! Hope you both have wonderful days!

Went and saw Click today. Really good- tearjerker and hysterical. Definitely not family/forum friendly though.

Off to watch Narnia and catch up on Potty Five Words!

Hope you all have a great RotN/D!

~Kristina

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Snuffles - Jun 30, 2006 12:00 am (#1796 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Solitaire

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jose043 - Jun 30, 2006 12:02 am (#1797 of 2979)

Happy Birthday to all that had them & Happy Anniversary to those that have had them. Sorry to those who have lost pets.

In our house at the moment have husband Rob getting over the flu, had to race my Mum to Hospital with a bad Asthma attack Friday week ago , was in hospital 5 days she is home now at her place. Anne stayed home with her Asthma today (Friday) & I have had my Asthma bad since Monday Have been on the nebuliser since then. Anne & I are both going to see our Asthma specialist on Monday.

We could do with some rain here our driest star since 1892 (I think that was the date) we deffernetly need more rain here in West Aussie

Josephine & Anne

Little Werewolves of London

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Regan of Gong - Jun 30, 2006 1:12 am (#1798 of 2979)

Yeah, pretty much all of Australia needs rain. Officially we've been in drought/water shortage since before 2001, it's something like an extended El Nino effect.

Belated sympathies for the dog Kaykay. 12 is pretty good. For Catherine, ours was 14 1/2 before it died January 7. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, as long as you prepare yourself for what's coming up. At least we didn't need to go through the trauma of having Ralphy put down, I couldn't have standed that.

Has anyone seen Nacho Libre ? It's the new (here in Australia) Jack Black movie. Wanted to see if anyone thought it was good. Seems alright, it's from the writers of Napolean Dynamite.

Hope all your asthma problems get better for you soon. It must have been really scary to have to race your mum to hospital.

Germany vs Argentina tonight- it's gonna be a cracker!

Regan

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kaykay1970 - Jun 30, 2006 1:30 am (#1799 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Solitaire and Mischafan!!  

Healing charms for Josephine and family.

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Jun 30, 2006 3:16 am (#1800 of 2979)

Happy Birthday Solitaire!!!

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Amilia Smith - Jun 30, 2006 3:17 am (#1801 of 2979)

I saw Nacho Libre. It normally wouldn't be my type of humor, but I watched it with a group who thought it was hilarious. Funny how much funnier a movie seems when all the people around you are cracking up. Be sure you stay for the credits, as the Jack Black song that plays over them is a hoot. "My love is like the nectar from a fruit that is forbidden."

Mills.

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Regan of Gong - Jun 30, 2006 4:22 am (#1802 of 2979)

MWA HA HA HA!

Premium Membership!

**cackles madly**

Avatar's from www.explodingdog.com - don't worry, it's just a collection of drawings this guy's done on his computer. They're pretty abstract, but I think it's OK for everyone.

I'm going to enjoy the no post limit now and listen to the new Eskimo Joe CD.

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Puck - Jun 30, 2006 5:13 am (#1803 of 2979)

Congrats to Regan for going premium!

Healing Charms to Josephine and Anne!

Be careful to Ginny and Tori! *goes off mumbling abut homemade cannons*

Kathy

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Loopy Lupin - Jun 30, 2006 5:43 am (#1804 of 2979)

Hi all, I am in need of some advice. I am working on a project for my legal research class on the subject of McCarthyism and effect it had on the various aspects of the law especially in regards to first, fifth, and fourteenth amendment rights. – Nathan

Well, have you seen "Good Night and Good Luck" which is about McCarthy and the newsman Edward R. Murrow? That might be a fun starting point.

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Marie E. - Jun 30, 2006 6:14 am (#1805 of 2979)

Shayla discovered how far behind she was in our local library's summer reading program so she spent all day yesterday and the day before reading. Her book of choice? Sorcerer's Stone, of course. And I swear she grabbed it on her own. I told her how I liked that the address on Harry's letters changed every time Vernon moved the family until it ended up as Mr. H Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-rock, The Sea. Last night when I went to bed I saw she had left me a note addressed to Mom, biggest bedroom with a bathroom, etc. Very Cute.

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Chemyst - Jun 30, 2006 6:58 am (#1806 of 2979)

when I went to bed I saw she had left me a note addressed to Mom, biggest bedroom with a bathroom...
   Aww...
PS - good thing Cobain is so cute; if one is stuck with a poor name, it helps to have good looks to overcome it.

Happy Birthday, Solitaire.

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Nathan Zimmermann - Jun 30, 2006 7:31 am (#1807 of 2979)

Haymoni and Loopy, thank you both for the advice It was most helpful it has given me a place to start. I was really at my wit's end because, the reference librarians at my school were not helping me at all. They have a habit of leaving students to their own devices when it comes to research. It is quite annoying really.

Again I wish to say thank you for the suggestions.

Nathan

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Denise P. - Jun 30, 2006 8:08 am (#1808 of 2979)

I woke up this morning unable to see! Eeeeek!! I got my eyes opened and after looking, called the doctor's office. Yep, it is probably pink eye and my eyes just got gunked shut. I can't do it half way, both eyes are a lovely pink, swollen and yucky. There are no appointments left I get the pleasure of sitting in the office and hoping they can work me in. Yay.

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Steve Newton - Jun 30, 2006 8:22 am (#1809 of 2979)

I remember when my son would come home from day care and lay the pink eye on me. Its pretty demoralizing to go into work and have your boss come up to you, with terror in her eyes, and say "GO HOME!"

I hope you don't have a problem putting drops in your eyes.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 30, 2006 8:31 am (#1810 of 2979)

both eyes are a lovely pink, swollen and yucky...---Denise P.

Sounds like a moment that should be immortalized with a picture. I dare ya!

Hope all the US folks are getting long weekends off from work. Happy 4th!

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The giant squid - Jun 30, 2006 8:36 am (#1811 of 2979)

Happy Birthday, Soli! I'd wish Jim a happy birthday as well, but he's not around to see it anyway.

Went and saw Click today. Really good- tearjerker and hysterical. Definitely not family/forum friendly though.--Tazzygirl

It's odd that you should say that, seeing as the whole point of the film is "Spend more time with your family." Unless you're referring to the dogs' leisure activities...?

Has anyone seen Nacho Libre ?--Regan of Gong

All I can say is that if you liked Napoleon Dynamite you'll like Nacho Libre. It's got pretty much the same feel, although Nacho is somewhat more animated due to Jack Black. As I was one of those who thought Napoleon was a waste of film, I can't personally recommend it.

Speaking of non-recommendations, I had to screen The Devil Wears Prada last night. Let's see...I don't like Meryl Streep, I have no interest in fashion or fashion magazines, and I hate the "My boss is a tyrant!" premise. I'm pretty much as far from the target audience as you can get. I spent the first hour of the movie yelling, "Just quit!" at the screen; after that my throat got sore & I had to stop. I got paid to watch it & I still want my money back...

--Mike

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azi - Jun 30, 2006 8:41 am (#1812 of 2979)

Hope you get better soon Denise!

Happy Birthday Solitare!!!

Hope your asthma gets better soon Josephine and Anne! It's a bad time of year for asthma for me too...

Went to the doctors today to change back from my university doctors. Discovered that even though I've had the same doctor all my life up til October '05, I have to register as a new patient and have a *lot* of pointless tests to see what illnesses I have. Not impressed. I know my medical problems and they have my medical records! On the plus side, at least they let me back in!

Someone ask why we don't transfer rainfall/water to areas that need it. There are a few reasons - cost (very expensive), effect on the ecology from the areas you are taking water (e.g. rivers) and the opinions of people the water is being taken from (they sometimes feel it's to their detriment and the needy people aren't entitled to their water) There are probably some other reasons as well. Cloud seeding *could* be an option, but the amount of rain you get is very unpredictable (if anyone remembers/has read about the Lynmouth flood in 1952, that is thought to have been a result of cloud seeding). It's best just to try and conserve water if you are in a drought.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a lovely day!

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Catherine - Jun 30, 2006 8:42 am (#1813 of 2979)

All I can say is that if you liked Napoleon Dynamite you'll like Nacho Libre.—Mike

I was entertained by Napoleon Dynamite, so I can't agree there. I will say that I was very annoyed by The Devil Wears Prada as a novel. I was one of the members of book group who nixed it as a reading selection.

Denise, good luck with the gunk. *sprays antiseptic everywhere and goes off to wash hands*

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Solitaire - Jun 30, 2006 11:07 am (#1814 of 2979)

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! I treated myself by sleeping in ... until the dogs woke me up for their trip outside and breakfast. (7:45 a.m. ... woohoo!) After my workout, I treated myself to a big Starbucks caramel macchiato. Alas, the fat-free and sugar-free version is not quite as tasty as the original ... but it is a good compromise!

Azi, Josephine, and Anne, sorry to hear about the asthma. The air here in the Central Valley of California has been a major problem for about the last ten days ... very dirty and extremely hot. I am always oddly amused when the weather guy tells us something bright, like the following: "Okay, folks, the air is unhealthful for breathing, so try to avoid it if you can!" What are we supposed to do, hold our collective breath until it gets better? Wear gas masks? Here's hoping you feel better soon!

Denise, did you call a GP or eye doctor? My eye doc is often more responsive to eye issues than the GP, and he takes more pains to get us in quickly. You mgiht give it a try, if you haven't done so. Just a thought ...

**sending healing charms to all who are ailing!**

Solitaire

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Good Evans - Jun 30, 2006 11:10 am (#1815 of 2979)

happy birthday Solitaire, well done you on getting a lie in!!

kaykay I missed your post but someone posted "sorry about your dog". Whatever the trouble and I hope not the worst, my very best wishes too.

have a lovely day everyone

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Tazzygirl - Jun 30, 2006 11:27 am (#1816 of 2979)

Cobain is adorable, Marie!

Healing charms to Denise, Azi, Josephine and Anne!

My friends and I are going to see The Devil Wears Prada tomorrow. I read the book, and liked it. Although some parts were a bit annoying...

Yeay to Regan for Premium Membership!! (Potty Five Words!!)

Hope you all have a fabulous RotD/N!

~Kristina

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Solitaire - Jun 30, 2006 11:39 am (#1817 of 2979)

I was also curious ... Tazzy, were you the one who said Click! was not "family friendly"? Is it a little too adult? I can't wait to hear about The Devil Wears Prada. My sister and I are having a girl's weekend at the beach soon, and maybe we will go and see a couple of movies. I always wait until they come on cable ... but I may throw caution to the wind and go to a theatre! LOL

Solitaire

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Elanor - Jun 30, 2006 11:40 am (#1818 of 2979)

Joyeux anniversaire! Happy birthday Soli!

Healing charms to anyone needing some and happy weekend ones to everybody!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 30, 2006 12:13 pm (#1819 of 2979)

Denise healing charms to you! Pink eye is not fun, I got in when I was little, but only in one eye.

I want to see "Click" and "The Devil Wears Prada"

Every year around 4th of July, the neighborhood association puts a little American flag in everyone's yard. When we woke up this moring, they had put them in. It's really cool because they are all the same and there is one in every yard.

97F today, and a bit cloudy but of course they are not rain clouds, but those ones that don't have rain. That figures!

My neighbor is out with his buffer trying to help my dad fix the scratch in the Jeep, it's looking better so that's good!ANd Pepper is going crazy because she wants to be out there with them, so I'm listening to her bark and jump at the back door.

I probably won't go see Nacho Libre if it's anything like Napolean Dynamite. Napolean was funny, but not until after I'd finish watching it! I can't see how it was as big of a success as it was yet I can....Does that makes sense?? It's one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen yet I can say pretty much every line in the movie and I've only seen it once! (and everytime I think about Kip editing post and what not, I picture Napolean's brother(whose name is Kip also) sitting at that computer talking to "hot babes" I can't help it...sorry Kip!!)

Off to check threads! Have a great RotD everyone!

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geauxtigers - Jun 30, 2006 12:41 pm (#1820 of 2979)

TGIF!

Yeah the flags are cool in everyone's yard! Can't wait to play with fire!

healing charms to everyone who needs them! I'm having sneezing attacks today for no particular reason, but I keep sneezing its weird!

Yeah the scratch looks much better now!

I don't think I'll see Nacho Libre either, I'm in the same boat as Ginny on this one. Napoleon Dynamite was torture to watch and I didn't laugh, but as soon as it ended I was like that was kinda funny! I've only watched it once because I don't think I could sit there and watch it ever again. Its so stupid it makes it funny!

I want to see the Devil wears Prada too! I think it sounds funny, but I'm not sure I haven't read the book, but I'd like too.

Well have a great day/night everyone!

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Denise P. - Jun 30, 2006 1:16 pm (#1821 of 2979)

I got in, got some antibiotics for both eyes. No, no pictures of this will be taken. Trust me when I say it is not pretty.

I didn't plan to go see Click, Nacho Libre or The Devil Wears Prada. We did go see The Lake House and I would like to see Superman

On the DVD front, we watched Munich last night, have season one of The 4400 and decided Mr. Denise had not seen Batman Begins so that is on its way here as well. Gotta love Netflix!

Our week of relative peace and quiet is coming to a screaming halt tomorrow. We go in the morning to pick up our missing 4 from camp. Kierynn told me yesterday "I miss my friends" When I questioned which friends she missed, she said "Nicholas, Ryan, Kaity and Iain" Somehow, I don't think Devin has missed them all that much. Kierynn and Devin have been tent camping in his room all week and she loves the tent up.

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Lina - Jun 30, 2006 1:55 pm (#1822 of 2979)

Happy birthday Solitaire and Mischafan!

It seems that healing charms are needed around the Forum, so consider them sent!

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Lilly P - Jun 30, 2006 2:55 pm (#1823 of 2979)

I love magic. Whatever drying charms you all sent, they worked! Even though we are going to get rain tonight, I had one glorious day of sunshine to get all my errands run for the holiday weekend!!! And to make a good day great, I got a Happy Anniversary card from my husband who is in Iraq, he must have pre-bought it and packed it in his gear bag because it was quite bent up! sending ***happy charms*** to everyone on the forum because I'm in such a good mood! Have a great (and safe)4th of July to all who are celebrating, and a great ROTweekend for everyone else.

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Finn BV - Jun 30, 2006 3:20 pm (#1824 of 2979)

Mike, thanks for the review. That's now added to my list of summer movies. Tonight we're off to see Wordplay.

Marie, healing charms to you!! And thanks for the pic of… The-Nephew-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

We generally have 2 seasons here, summer and fallwinterspring. --Ginny (VE)

SPEW!!!

Because it is a charming quirk that adds romance to life. –Kim

That's a good answer for any questions about American oddities.

Nathan, try both threads. That way more people will see it. Though I'm afraid I can't be of much help.

Happy Birthday Jim and Soli!!!

About an hour ago, we saw endless lightning bolts going through the sky. –Steph

Really? Where was I? Glad the bomb scare thing turned out okay.

Off to watch Narnia and catch up on Potty Five Words! –Kristina

That sounds like an amazing plan to me!! This sweepstakes makes me really mad that I'm not an educator. **Jealous of people like Catherine, Soli, Audrey, Kristina's mom, and all others who I know I'm forgetting**

Regan, congrats on your premium membership! BTW, Nacho Libre is out here now too, but doesn't look that appealing. Then again, I haven't heard much about it -- hasn't made a big deal, I'll say.

Last night when I went to bed I saw she had left me a note addressed to Mom, biggest bedroom with a bathroom --Marie

Awwww!! That's too cute!!

Healing charms to Denise!

Awwww, Mike, you don't like Meryl Streep?

Josephine, Anne and Azi, healing charms on that asthma!

Lilly, glad our charms worked, and that's great to see the star next to your name!! Congrats on Premium!

Enjoy the Weekend all! A gong attacked me in Wind Ensemble, I have a lovely cut on my ankle now. I swear… me and percussion… it's nasty business.

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Marie E. - Jun 30, 2006 4:54 pm (#1825 of 2979)

Attacked by a gong? Maybe you should stay away from music camp, Finn.

Thanks for the compliments on Cobain, though I have nothing to do with it. I'll post a more recent picture of him soon so ya'll can see how fat he's gotten.

Whew, it's hot here. It got up to 91 F. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Sunday. I just had to treat myself to a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

I've had pink eye and it's no fun. I always get it in my right eye. Shayla had it last summer.

Happy Friday!

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Puck - Jun 30, 2006 5:08 pm (#1826 of 2979)

So, you were just sitting there minding your own music, when a gong lunged forward and bit you on the ankle?

Denise, sounds like you got hit with the conjuctivitis curse! Fast healing!

Love the note, Marie!

Where's the HH family? Did they go on vacation?

I wonder how long it will be before Kierynn wants to send her "friends" back to camp.

Baby had her check-up. All is well, though the doctor wants me to encourage her to crawl. (Personally, I'm dreading the day she becomes mobile and am happy to wait her out.) They also said she's underweight. (50th percentile for height, 10th for weight) She eats fine. I have the okay to add dairy, so that might help.

The doctor also said my son did not have a reaction to the bee sting. (Nausea can accompany other symptoms, but is not the primary one. He had no other symptoms.) That was a relief!

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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Stephanie M. - Jun 30, 2006 5:44 pm (#1827 of 2979)

Happy Belated Birthday, Solitare!

Congratulations on the Premium Membership, Regan!

Sorry to hear about your eyes, Denise! I hope they get better soon! I've never had pink eye, so I hope it goes away quickly!

I saw Nacho Libre, and I thought that it was as good as I expected. And I expected it to be pretty funny, but I also knew that it was a Nickelodeon film, so I didn't expect it to be for the oldest crowd. I never saw Napoleon Dynamite, so I can't say how similar in humor they were, but I thought that it was pretty good. There were some really funny jokes, but I also felt a little too old for some things (but I also tend to have an older sense of humor than most people my age...).

Finn, a gong attacked you? I didn't know that gongs could do that... I guess you learn something new everyday.

The weather here was beautiful all day, but now it's pouring!

Have a great 4th of July everyone!!!

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Mediwitch - Jun 30, 2006 7:14 pm (#1828 of 2979)

Hmmm...looks like healing charms are needed all around! Get Well Soon

Ginny: We generally have 2 seasons here, summer and fallwinterspring.

I'm glad Finn reposted this Ginny, because I forgot to reply...here in New England, we also have two seasons, winter and springsummerfall!

Thanks for the sweepstakes link, Finn!

Excellent news on your son's bee sting, Puck! Of course, we had our first beautiful day in weeks, and I got stung on the left hand!

And Happy Independence Day to those in the US! Fireworks

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Mrs. Sirius - Jun 30, 2006 8:52 pm (#1829 of 2979)

Wow I was in New York City for two days and had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Snape, Gina R. (**waves**) I will send you pictures as soon as I can download.

Sorry about the eyes Denise, hopefully no one else will get it.

I too had the emergency shift of everything in the house. My freezer broke, I had to get all the junk out of the basement to get the old freezer out and the new one in. I took several two days but at least we now have a mostly usable playroom in the basement.

Oh, Happy Birthdays and Anniversaries to all you wonderful people who deserved it .

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Jun 30, 2006 9:16 pm (#1830 of 2979)

Oh, Happy Birthdays and Anniversaries to all you wonderful people who deserved it.---Mrs. Sirius

Doesn't that beg the question, "Who doesn't deserve it?"

Of course, I'm still finally catching up to Lost, etc.---Catherine

Hey Kim! The Lost Second Season DVD is out and on sale. (Sheesh, they released that with little fanfare.) So, if you go to Amazon you can buy it. Yay!---Loopy Lupin

This information set me on a wild goose chase tonight. *:waves to Catherine's answering machine*: Season 2 of Lost doesn't get released until early September. I guess ABC has a captive audience in me until the end of summer reruns.

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Solitaire - Jun 30, 2006 9:44 pm (#1831 of 2979)

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! It has been a really nice birthday. Tonight my mom, sis & her hubby, newlywed niece, and adopted sister took me to my favorite Mexican restaurant, and we all had a great time. My favorite great-nephew was also there, as charming and sweet as ever. What a ham! (Newlywed nephew-in-law could not make it, as he was doing a ride-along with the local CHP. He has passed all of his tests and will be starting his training soon.)

Afterwards, we all went back to my sister's home for dessert and fun. My other niece & NIL, their oldest son, and their brand new baby daughter (not quite 4 weeks old) joined us, and I got to rock the baby, play with the boys, and generally spoil all my "greats" just as much as I liked! All in all, a great day!

Solitaire

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Tazzygirl - Jun 30, 2006 10:37 pm (#1832 of 2979)
Edited Jun 30, 2006 11:07 pm

Soli- Tazzy, were you the one who said Click! was not "family friendly"?

Yup! I mean I wouldn't take anyone under 13 or so... There is a lot of adult type humor/talk.

Finn- that sweepstakes for Prince Caspian sounds fun! **Is wishing I was a teacher already**

I just spent time with my friend and her 3 week old baby girl tonight. The baby was adorable!!

~Kristina

EDIT: Also, it was HOT (and dry!) here today. It was in the high 80s to low 90s, and in the neighboring town I went to, it was 104 degrees. I can't wait to get back to the nice warm humidity!

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Madam Pince - Jun 30, 2006 10:43 pm (#1833 of 2979)

Back home finally, and caught up on posts, after so much rain that I think I have moss growing on my feet. I ended up having to stay over at my aunt's house for three extra days because it took the phone guys that long to fix the phone there -- they could only work in 15-minute increments between the thunderstorms. Lots of flooding hereabouts -- Mr. Pince has been crazy at work in DC with all the leaks in his building -- but things seem to be drying out and this weekend is supposed to be hot and dry. Too late for the tomatoes, though, I fear; they look quite sad.

Belated "Happy Birthday" to the many Forum Kids who celebrated, to Liz Mann, to Mischafan, and to Solitaire (and anyone else I may have forgotten over 260 posts!)

Belated "Happy Anniversary" to Catherine and Denise and spouses!

Kay-kay, so sorry to hear about the loss of your dog!

Denise, that was too sweet of Kierynn about missing her "friends"... awwwwww.... Little Pince was reading over my shoulder and wanted to know who "that girl" is.... he can spot a cute blonde a mile away! Also funny funny about Ryan telling his brother he'll steal his girlfriend someday -- quite the calculating little man, isn't he?

Marie, welcome to the ranks of the sinus-infected. (Holly, is yours better yet?) Mine is all gone, thankfully. Anti-biotics are a wonderful thing. Cobain is soooo adorable! And Shayla's note to you was the cutest thing! Where in Virginia besides Busch Gardens will you be visiting? I'd love to see you if you're going to be around Northern Virginia at all! We can trade frozen cat stories. Send me an e-mail or something maybe...

Azi, I sympathize with you on the ridiculous forms they make you fill out at the doctor's office. Today was Little Pince's 4-year check-up (three shots -- not fun) and I had to fill out an entire form, with information that had not changed at all, and then circle the word "No" at the end of each line in a column off to the right labelled "Is this new information since your last visit?" Couldn't they put that question at the top and just have you circle it once and skip filling out all the useless info?

Chemyst, this is going way back, but about your son's Civil War reading - does it absolutely have to be a novel? I know of several non-fictions that read better than most novels, if those would do. My favorite is I Rode With Stonewall by Henry Kyd Douglass -- he was an aide-de-camp to Stonewall Jackson and was therefore right in the thick of lots of exciting and very interesting happenings. The letters of Robert Gould Shaw were very interesting too; I think it was called Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune. I am also a huge fan of GWTW but I'm not sure a teenaged boy would be as appreciative. How old is he again? I'll go over my bookshelves once more...

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virginiaelizabeth - Jun 30, 2006 10:51 pm (#1834 of 2979)

OK so I'm officially on vacation now as I finished my last babysitting job for a week!! YAY!! It was kinda fun because the little boy is the cutest kid I've ever met. He's 3 and we played astronauts and aliens! I ended up with a cowboy hat, a sword, a gun and these robot boot thingys that made noises when I walked. He had on a Batman mask, with a gun, sheild and dart thingy. It was pretty funny!

Tomorrow is my best friends birthday so she'll finally be 16. It's also my grandpa's birthday. Weird thing with our birthdays is that her birthday is the same as my grandpa's and me and Tori's birthday is the same as her grandpa's... weird how these things are! She'd mad because the DMV is closed on the weekends and they are closed for the 3rd and 4th as well so she has to wait till the 5th to get her license. I thought I had it bad with my b-day on a Sunday!

Okay off to check threads!! Have a great rest of the night!

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geauxtigers - Jun 30, 2006 11:05 pm (#1835 of 2979)

I had to fill out an entire form, with information that had not changed at all, and then circle the word "No" at the end of each line in a column off to the right labelled "Is this new information since your last visit?" Couldn't they put that question at the top and just have you circle it once and skip filling out all the useless info? lol! My mom always had to fill out 2 identical ones, how annoying can they get with those things?!

Very excited, no babysitting for a week! Mom and Dad are off so we are probably going to tackle all the overgrown dead plants in our yard one day. I'm not looking forward to it because it will involve being out in the heat for pretty early, then later on in the evening when the mosquitos are out trying to give is west nile. Oh well our back yard is a disaster!

The weather guy officially gave the stats for the drought on the news tonight, apparently this is the dryest first 6 months since records began in 1890, and the first time since 1960 that every single day in June has been above 90 degrees. The normal rainfall totals for this time of year is nearly 6 inches, we haven't even had half an inch at my house. I think the highest was like .84 inches or somewhere under an inch. Pathetic...

I can't remember anything else so I'm off to check threads.

Happy 4th (almost) have a great ROTS/N!

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The giant squid - Jun 30, 2006 11:50 pm (#1836 of 2979)

Marie, I forgot to mention Shayla's note. Definitely very cute--or is she too old for "cute" now? Oh, and I noticed in the latest wave of pics of Cobain (I swear the girl's taken half a million pictures since the end of March) that he inherited the "neckless" gene. It must be a family thing.

Steph, I'd say that you're probably the target demographic for Nacho Libre. No disrespect there, but it seemed to be aimed toward the 12-16 crowd. There were a couple of teen girls in the theater when we were screening it (the children of the cleaning crew--don't ask ) and they were giggling the whole way through.

Finn--at least there was only one instrument that attacked you. It would have been horrible if they'd gonged up on you...

--Mike

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Regan of Gong - Jul 1, 2006 1:37 am (#1837 of 2979)

**Groan**

That's terrible!

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Puck - Jul 1, 2006 5:25 am (#1838 of 2979)

Ohh, Mike! *shakes head* That was a pun worthy of Bumbledore.

We can trade frozen cat stories. -Madame Pince

What?!! Obviously I'm not sure what to make of that one. Welcome back, though!

played astronauts and aliens! I ended up with a cowboy hat, a sword, a gun and these robot boot thingys that made noises when I walked. He had on a Batman mask, with a gun, sheild and dart thingy.   There's a little boy in my house who would love a chance to play that game.

It is now July, the birthday month. Mom, my cousin, sis-in-law, hubby, Diva, Hubby's (share's a day with my great-aunt and hubby's cousin), Hubby's grandma, and mum-in-law all have birthday's this month. Toss in a grandparent's wedding anniversary for good measure. Oh, and Harry and Neville, of course. I could have been a July baby, but I kept my mom waiting a few extra days.

Have a great RotD!

Kathy

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Good Evans - Jul 1, 2006 7:09 am (#1839 of 2979)
Edited Jul 1, 2006 8:00 am

sounds like a busy month Kathy!!

I have both boys, a great neice, and our own anniversary but thats about it this month. I do have Council meetings though Monday and Tuesday this week coming. We are off to the Victoria and Albert Museum for a reception Monday night, so that should be fun! But come Monday night I think I will be ready for my bed, meetings at 9.00, 11.00 1.00 4.00 and then have to be at the reception for six, at some point I have to check in to the hotel and change, not sure how that will happen yet, ah well!!

Race for life tomorrow, wish me luck - I'll try to post tomorrow afternoon with my time, fingers crossed for sub half an hour! Incidentally it is boiling here today and supposed to be 32C tomorrow - can't wait to go running !!!!

edit: I am watching Wimbledon at the moment and Agassi just lost to Nadal, good match, but what a sad day for mens tennis, Andre Agassi retires from Wimbledon, and he has been such a fabulous player. I'll miss him! He was interviewed court side and it was really sweet, I hope that it is picked up round the world for those of you who are only just getting up!! I'm off to keep an eye on the footie now, Come on England!

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Madam Pince - Jul 1, 2006 8:17 am (#1840 of 2979)

LOL, Puck -- it's a very long story that nobody wants to hear, trust me.

Punny, punny, Mike....

Very jealous of you, Good Evans, for getting to go to a reception at the Victoria and Albert Museum! That's one of the spots on my list of places I want to go before I hit the veil. Good luck in your race and with all those meetings!

Ginny, we have those robot boots that make noise when you walk here in our house! Like Puck, I also have a little boy who would've loved to have been in with you guys on that game!

Errand day today - finally going to upgrade our Stone Age cell phones. (Only because supposedly the service will improve, not because I care how thin my phone is!) Apparently all the new ones have camera-capability now -- not sure I want that. Vaguely seems to me to have "Big Brother" problems there, perhaps...

Everyone have a good RotD!

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Loopy Lupin - Jul 1, 2006 9:33 am (#1841 of 2979)

Kim! I'm so sorry about the wild goose chase. I swear that when I googled "lost season 2 amazon" the other day, it appeared that it was ready to go. When I googled it just now, I see the information about the release day. Either amazon was toying with me (unlikely) or I just didn't read something closely enough (more likely). Alas......

I saw "Superman Returns!" I was not particularly blown away, but it was still cool and I'll see it again with me nephews. I almost had to walk out of the theater during the previews though since there was a trailer for "Lady In the Water." I thought this piece of crap was supposed to be a "bedtime story." Now it appears to be a horror flick of sorts? Whatever.

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Solitaire - Jul 1, 2006 9:36 am (#1842 of 2979)

LOL about Stone Age cell phones! I have a funny phone story ...

Back in the early 90s I taught in a small town about 45 miles northeast of here. Whether I went by freeway or back roads, there was not much in the way of civilization (mostly big farms) on the drive. My dad (a farmer) worried about me breaking down out in the boonies, so he bought me what he had been using in his truck when he upgraded from the CB radio--a bag phone. (Okay, stop laughing, everyone!) A few years later, he upgraded me to a smaller analog phone, about the size of one of those old beige AT&T cordless handsets but weighing in at about 2-3 pounds! It was mainly for emergencies, really, so I kept it plugged into the lighter socket in my car. It worked great ... never had reception problems.

In the summer of 2003, I was going to be spending 2-3 weeks on the road, traveling up and down California with visiting chat buddies from Florida and Australia and meeting up with other chat buddies in various places along the way. We needed to be able to find each other when we got separated in places like Disneyland, malls, etc., so everyone began exchanging cell numbers. I decided it was time for a smaller, much lighter cell phone if I was going to have to drag it in my purse.

You can't believe the comments I received when I took my old Motorola in to exchange it. You'd have thought I had hauled in a prehistoric T. Rex bone I'd dug up in my back yard! Everyone in the store had to come over and look at the phone and hold it. My, what a fuss!

Well, I bought one of the small Nokia phones. It lasted about 2 years and died! I didn't even use it that much (I've never been a cell phone junkie). I have had one of the small Cingular Samsung phones for a little over a year. I wonder how long it will last?

Solitaire

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Finn BV - Jul 1, 2006 9:52 am (#1843 of 2979)

Hehe… technically I tripped over the gong… but that was because it wasn't on its stan, when it should have been.

…groans with the rest of the crowd at Squid Mike's joke… although if I see them a-cymbal-ing in a dark alley mentioning my name, I'll make sure there's no mallet-tent… okay, I shouldn't have even tried…

Best of luck to Good Evans but what sad news at Wimbledon – they cut the broadcast over here from 12-3 ET.

LOL about cell phones.

I fell asleep at 9:30 last night1 I don't believe it!! Man, I'm finding more time to come to the forum in the school year than the summer, because of my schedule!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 1, 2006 10:15 am (#1844 of 2979)

SPEW!!! Mike and Finn!!!

Funny story Solitaire! My mom had one of those too, the battery only lasted 2hours! I'm dangerous with a cell phone, my last one ended up in the toilet....and daddy wouldn't get it out for me! Needless to say It ended up working again...just my luck as I didn't want to touch it. But the screen rusted a few weeks later so I was finally able to get a new one! As for cameras, they are really fun actually, Tori used it to take a pic of me in my "astronaut outfit" last night.

Well today is Madison's birthday so I have to go search for a present. It gets harder every year to find something!!

Puck, May is just like that for us! We have 7 immediate family birthday's and more including friends and such! It's insane.

Off to Target! Have a great day everyone!

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Good Evans - Jul 1, 2006 10:57 am (#1845 of 2979)

Solitaire that was so funny!!!

Boo - England lost on penalties - Funny how the commentators said England always lose on penalties, they just can't score! - now see for me that makes me wonder what a footballer is supposed to do and why he plays for his country if he can't score goals, but maybe I'm missing something?? **ducks**

Murray and Roddick are shaping up to what lloks like a marathon match on centre court, Finn I hope you are getting the feed on this one!!

have a great rotd all

EDIT: Venus Williams just been knocked out!

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Puck - Jul 1, 2006 10:59 am (#1846 of 2979)

okay, Finn, you managed to accomplish the immpossible and make Mike's pun even worse!

Best of luck with the run, Julie!

Hehe, the "Harry Potter Remix" song was on XM kids an hour or so ago. When Harry yelled "Expecto Patronum!" I immediately thought of Haymoni's husband. (Incidently, I just realized the Lexicon gets a mention in that song.)

I like having a camera phone -though at first I thought it was unnecessary tp upgrade. It's great when Mr. Puck goes out of town, as I send him photos of the kids. He's quite impressed I can do it.

Off to get ready for the beach! It's a lovely day.

Cheers!

Kathy

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Tazzygirl - Jul 1, 2006 11:20 am (#1847 of 2979)

Puck: Hehe, the "Harry Potter Remix" song was on XM kids an hour or so ago. When Harry yelled "Expecto Patronum!" I immediately thought of Haymoni's husband. (Incidently, I just realized the Lexicon gets a mention in that song.)

Now I need to listen to XM Kids. My dad has XM... so maybe he won't mind if I take it over for a little bit... Is that the name of the song?

Off to watch The Devil Wears Prada!

Have a fantastic RotD/N everyone!

~Kristina

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 1, 2006 11:28 am (#1848 of 2979)

Waaaay behind on chat posts but wanted to pop in to say, Congratulations, Portugal! And sorry for England. (Lots of quiet HHs in the Mr. HH family household.) I guess it pains when key team members are absent.

Baton Rouge friends still visiting. It's great to see them again. Haven't seen them since end of July before Katrina. Beautiful weather except for the freak storm last night. Went to water park Thursday, party last night, chillin' today. Miss y'all. (Oh no, that accent is getting to me!)

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Solitaire - Jul 1, 2006 11:31 am (#1849 of 2979)

I'll be waiting for the Tazzy Review of TDWP!

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Good Evans - Jul 1, 2006 12:29 pm (#1850 of 2979)

well done Andy Murray - sorry Andy Roddick fans, but what a match -the score doesnt reflect the fabulous tennis that was played.

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azi - Jul 1, 2006 1:43 pm (#1851 of 2979)

Well, I was stewarding at a music competition all day with a load of football-haters. It was like my natural home! Anyway, I got to hear lots of different types of music, some good, others boring me to sleep (mainly long piano and opera solos - bleugh!). I enjoyed the folk and musical songs. There was one girl, 12 years old, who can sing perfectly - not a note out of place! She can reach a high B with no difficulty whatsoever! I was impressed. Unfortunately, during the first set of singing, I unexpectedly got a nose-bleed so I was sat next to the adjudicator doing everything one-handed! Some nice people on the row behind gave me tissues. I was also informed that I look too young to be in university. No surprise there!

Tomorrow I once again have to be up early as I'm going to the Royal Show near Royal Leamington Spa. It's got a convention on climate change and the latest things about biofuels so I'm looking forward to it.

Hope everyone has a lovely day! Apologies if I forgot anyone - my brain is frazzled! Sending wanted weather charms!

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Denise P. - Jul 1, 2006 1:45 pm (#1852 of 2979)

We picked up all the kidlets from camp this morning. Iain, the 5 year old, acted like he had just seen us a few moments before....it was no big deal that he had not seen us in a week. Since he was the youngest one camping this year, he bacame the camp mascot. Unpacking his bag, he has all kinds of toys and stuff. All the counselors were high fiving him, giving him hugs and kisses. Kierynn watched all this and now she is counting down until she can go to camp in 2008. Of course, unpacking bags also brought a rash of clothing (in all sizes) that I have never seen before. I know somewhere another mom is getting our stuff

Good Evans, good luck tomorrow! I start a half marathon training program on the 8th, right now my goal is to just finish it. At my current pace, which I hope to improve on before the actual race, I would finish in under 3 hours.

We found egg shells in the front yard, the mourning doves in the tree have hatched. They are up too high for me to get a picture though.

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geauxtigers - Jul 1, 2006 2:51 pm (#1853 of 2979)

It is now July, the birthday month. We have family birthdays on the 2, 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, and 28 of May! AHHH

Yeah mom had a dino cell phone a while back it weighed about 3 pounds it was not practical at all! I think we had a bag car phone too, I have vague memories of playing with it... But cell phones now-a-days are pretty tough. I dropped mine off the boardwalk at the beach right under the hose. I ended up having to walk all the way down the boardwalk, back up into the protected area that you aren't supposed to go in, and grab my phone out of the sand. there was one line of water coming off the boardwalk and it was landing squarly on my phone. Aside from finding sand in it everytime I open it, it works fine!

Can't remember much else, sorry England didn't make it, I'm glad France made it I guess I'll cheer for them...

Well off to find something to eat I'm starved.

Have a great day!

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Regan of Gong - Jul 1, 2006 3:09 pm (#1854 of 2979)

Azi, your expierience reminds me of a Spiderbait song. The chorus has lots of different men shouting "I LOVE FOOTY!"

I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I LOVE FOOTY, I HATE FOOTY!"

The last bit's screamed by a woman. It's very funny to hear.

Anyway, off to play...football! Or soccer, whichever you prefer. Then down to Melbourne. It's about 10 hours away by car, we've done it one day, but we're stopping at this little town called Beachworth. Lots of touristy kind of things there, but it's a great place. I's even got it's own Honeydukes/Lolly Shop. Don't know how long it'll be before I can get back here, I should be able to get a connection somewhere, or otherwise I won't be here until next saturday.

Have a good one,

Regan

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The giant squid - Jul 1, 2006 3:41 pm (#1855 of 2979)

Don't let 'em kid you, Finn--your puns were just as good as mine. They're all jealous, that's all.

Loopy: Every time I see the new Lady in the Water trailer it reminds me of the Village trailer, complete with rattling doorknob, monster POV and almost-glimpsed evil creature. Shyamalan has gotten so bad he's copying himself. And, of course, our theater is booked for this monstrosity... Hopefully we'll get Clerks II as well & I can force someone else to watch Lady.

--Mike

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timrew - Jul 1, 2006 4:57 pm (#1856 of 2979)

Good Evans:- .....makes me wonder what a footballer is supposed to do and why he plays for his country if he can't score goals........

From what I've observed in this World Cup, Good Evans. He has to learn to cheat better than his opponent. He has to be better at shirt-tugging, getting his opponent sent off, diving in the penalty area - all of those things, and more............

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Tazzygirl - Jul 1, 2006 6:08 pm (#1857 of 2979)

Soli: I'll be waiting for the Tazzy Review of TDWP!

All right, here is my review! It was okay... I think I agree with most of what Squid Mike said on his review of the movie. It could have definitely been better. And it is waaaaay off from the book. Harry came closer to the movie adaptation of HP then TDWP. There are some characters in TDWP that have entirely different names (I mean, how hard is it to keep a name?!) and their jobs weren't what they were in the books. I mean, little bitty details that don't cost extra to put into the movie should be put into the movie. It doesn't make sense to me. Anne Hathaway kind of bugs too (her eyes had that raccoon look throughout the movie. Yuck.). They did mention Harry Potter in it though!

Finn- the scene you said you saw being filmed- I tried looking in the background at the people, but it went by to fast. So I also don't think you made the cut!

We saw another trailer for Lady in the Water and my friend wants to go see it. She's actually excited. She said she loves M. Night Shama-lama-ding-dong's movies. I asked her if she was crazy.

Good luck on your runs, Denise and Good Evans!

Have to admit that I have yet to follow any of the World Cup or Wimbledon (although the movie was pretty good! LOL).

~Kristina

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Puck - Jul 1, 2006 6:12 pm (#1858 of 2979)

Don't let 'em kid you, Finn--your puns were just as good as mine. -Oh, they were as good as yours. The question is, were yours good?

Tazzy, that song is by Steve Goodie. It's a Harry Potter Remix, but not sure of the exact title. It's based on PoA. Sounds a bit like Weird Al to me.

Hope all Denise's cherubs sleep well in there own beds, and have fun wearing their "new" clothes.

We had fun at the beach, but now I must pay. I didn't get anything done this afternoon, and the bathrooms are now covered with sand. Tomorrow I clean. woot.

Cheers!

Kathy

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Mediwitch - Jul 1, 2006 9:03 pm (#1859 of 2979)

Puck: I could have been a July baby, but I kept my mom waiting a few extra days.

That's because August is a much better month for a birthday ~ just ask me or Ginny Weasley!

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geauxtigers - Jul 1, 2006 9:31 pm (#1860 of 2979)

Well Ginny and I were bored, so we went to starbucks then Blockbuster. I tried to rent a video game, but they "didn't have it checked in" Grr thats happened the last 3 times and I begininng to get playstation deprived here. So we rented Anchorman, it was funny, but not as funny I hoped it would be. There were some funny parts but some of it was just plain stupid, I dunno, I'm not a huge Will Ferrel fan, he was good on SNL though. Speaking of SNL, I think I'll turn it on!

I'm off to watch SNL and go to the chat if anyone cares to join me!

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Lina - Jul 2, 2006 12:34 am (#1861 of 2979)

Tazzygirl: There are some characters in TDWP that have entirely different names (I mean, how hard is it to keep a name?!) and their jobs weren't what they were in the books.

That just reminds me of a joke that is running here... Something like
- Oh, Philip! I haven't seen you in ages! I wouldn't have recognized you, you've changed so much! You've changed your hair color, lost weight...
- But I'm not Philip, I'm Mark.
- There, you have even changed your name!

We have some wind here. It is most welcome because it is lowering the temperature. We have opened half of the windows in the flat because we have no A/C. But the dog is not really happy about it, she keeps thinking that the shades or other things that the wind keeps moving will attack her. So she is whining all the time...

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Jul 2, 2006 12:51 am (#1862 of 2979)

WooHoo! Was starting to go through withdrawal pains here! Have a great day all!

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The giant squid - Jul 2, 2006 3:56 am (#1863 of 2979)

I got a chance to see the Agassi/Nadal match today (they ran it on ESPN2 in the evening). While I would have liked Andre to win I did like two things: Andre didn't go out without a fight, and Nadal was a very respectful winner. I guess if you have to get knocked out of Wimbledon, losing to the #2 seed isn't too bad...

While I'm a bit late, Happy Canada Day to any Canadians we might have around here. July 4th gets all the press (and fireworks), but some important stuff happened on the first too.

Hi, TBE!

--Mike

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haymoni - Jul 2, 2006 5:21 am (#1864 of 2979)

Mediwitch - August is DEFINITELY the best month! Not that I'm into astrology or anything, but I made certain that Ungrateful Son and The Beautifulest One were both Leos!

virginiaelizabeth - your babysitting costumes remind me of that scene in that movie with George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer when she makes super-hero costumes for the kids with the stuff in her purse. "Um, where do you get a bag like that?"

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Jul 2, 2006 6:06 am (#1865 of 2979)

***waves at Mike***

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Solitaire - Jul 2, 2006 7:09 am (#1866 of 2979)

Actually, my birthday is one of the best days, if one is single and has no kids. June 30th is just about halfway through the year from Christmas, so I get a special day with presents and spoiling spaced out just right. Of course, if you have wedding anniversaries and Mother's/Father's Day to celebrate, that's different ... you already get those extra special days sprinkled throughout the year.

Solitaire

P.S. Twinkles ... to get rid of that little dot in front of your stars, just hit edit and put a space or two in front of the asterisks. Really ... it works!

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Marie E. - Jul 2, 2006 7:53 am (#1867 of 2979)

I've never read TDWP, so maybe I'd enjoy the movie more. It bothers me, too, when they change a characters name for no reason. For example, in Beaches the book best friend is named Roberta, Bertie for short. In the movie version the best friend's name is changed to Hilary. Why? Because Bertie didn't sound rich enough?

Madam Pince, I'll email you with our vacation info.

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Jul 2, 2006 8:00 am (#1868 of 2979)

P.S. Twinkles ... to get rid of that little dot in front of your stars, just hit edit and put a space or two in front of the asterisks. Really ... it works!

LOL, I thought that was a spot on my glasses!

...toddles off to find the windex to be sure...

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 2, 2006 8:01 am (#1869 of 2979)

LOL haymoni, I must say it was pretty amusing!(and kinda fun too!!)

Well my mom just woke me up because my neighbors invited us to go tubing on the AMite today!! YAY!! I'm sure excited!! So I won't be back until late late tonight! Have a great RoTD everyone!

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geauxtigers - Jul 2, 2006 8:29 am (#1870 of 2979)
Edited Jul 2, 2006 9:22 am

WOOO Going Tubing be back much later tonight!

Funny story before I go, Ginny will hate me, but I can't help it!

We went to Mickey D's so we could eat breakfast/lunch before getting out on the water you know. We get in the drive-trough line and I go, you have money right? "uhhhh, no" yeah we had to sit in the parking lot while my grannie brought us money! At least we weren't trying to pay for our food before we found out we were money-less!

Looks like it will rain today!

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Good Evans - Jul 2, 2006 9:25 am (#1871 of 2979)

Hi!  Dripping with "glow" (horses sweat, men perspire, ladies glow - you get it!) It has been so hot today. I am bummed. 32 minutes!! improvement on las t year but not where I wanted to be!!!! it was 34C at 11.00 this morning and we had the most incredible hill to start with I didnt think it was ever going to plateau!! Still I finsihed it and have one small blister, I am not happy that was stupidity!

Denise I am all in awe with your training for a half marathon!!! I Intend to work up to 10k but not yet!!

ungrateful step sons birthday tomorrow (17!) so he came round this pm for some cake and to ask when I was going to take him driving - not til he's had some lessons was the very stern reply (Mcgonnagall eat your heart out!)

anyhow still very hot and off to evensong shortly

have a great day everyone

thanks for all your support, I am pleased I finished just dissaointed that I didnt improve on the time. £200 for cancer research I have raised and feel pretty pleased about that!

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Solitaire - Jul 2, 2006 9:43 am (#1872 of 2979)

Evensong ... that sounds so peaceful, poetic, reflective, and musical ... much nicer than just "the evening service," which is what we tend to say. I like it.

Solitaire

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Puck - Jul 2, 2006 9:44 am (#1873 of 2979)

wOOt! to Julie! You did fabulous, and don't tell yourself different!

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Madam Pince - Jul 2, 2006 10:42 am (#1874 of 2979)

Solitaire, thanks for the tip about the dot in front of the stars! I've never known how to fix that either -- tried for awhile, and then decided it wasn't that big of a problem and just gave up. Thanks so much!

***waves to everyone just to see if it works*** (Hey! It does! Woo-hoo!)

Way to go, Good Evans! Sounds like a great effort to me! Kudos!

I liked your joke, Lina! I hadn't heard it before!

Welcome home to all Denise's kidlets, and a fond farewell to her week of relative peace and quiet.... Ah well, I know it's good to have them home. Bah on the laundry, though...

Hope the girls have fun tubing and don't get sunburned! It sounds like a perfect day for it -- or it would be here anyways! The thermometer on our deck in the full sun says over 100. Bleah... and yesterday was so nice! So far we've done all "indoors" stuff today.

Had a Harry Potter dream last night! It was as though I was one of the students, and I was talking with Hermione a lot, and it was like the story (this was the last book, by the way) was being filmed for the movie, but yet it was "really happening" at the same time. And then one of the characters/actors (both the real person and the JKR character) died, so we all said, "Oh, I guess then that's one of the ones she said ended up dying although she hadn't originally planned it that way -- they had to die because they really did die!" (Does that make sense?) Anyway, I am most upset to report that it was Alan Rickman / Snape. I was actually very sad when I woke up, because I thought it had really happened! (OK, Solitaire, stop cheering now.... )

I guess I will spend some more time today trying to program the new cell phone. My old one didn't have a memory card, so I have to hand-enter all the numbers into the new address book. I spent hours last night reading the manual and trying to figure out all the features. I don't like the fact that it's so little -- the buttons are so tiny I can barely press them properly, and I have little fingers! I don't know how someone with big fingers could manage. And this model was the largest one available that we could choose from.

Everyone enjoy the RotD! Off to think up questions for the Trivia thread!

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Good Evans - Jul 2, 2006 12:05 pm (#1875 of 2979)

yes Soli Evensong was rather nice, and a blessed release from this heat!! The stone church was just so cool, it was lovely!

Thanks for the kind words guys!

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boop - Jul 2, 2006 1:14 pm (#1876 of 2979)

Julie, Great job on your run!!

Regan, Have a fun and safe trip.

Everyone have a great ROTD!!

hugs always

boop

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Denise P. - Jul 2, 2006 1:29 pm (#1877 of 2979)

32 minutes for 5K is awesome!! Way to go Julie!!

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Finn BV - Jul 2, 2006 2:33 pm (#1878 of 2979)

What a horrible day for the Americans at Wimbledon.

I went to see The Devil Wears Prada today too… just sort of a whim… Anyway, I hadn't read the book, but I agree with Tazzy mainly. It wasn't incredible, but just from a movie point of view, I liked it. Thought Meryl Streep was incredible, and there was a lot of Harry Potter, LOL! Except Anne Hathaway said Rowling-like-Howling, not -like-Bowling. Oh well. It was still funny. And yes, that scene was there, except I was wrong about which character it was! Though I can tell you for sure it was not the real actress doing that stunt, because we saw the stunt actress get her money and walk home – right in front of us!! Yeah, it was really fast! But I saw how they filmed it – and if anybody cares to know, it was at 60th Street and… er… Park, I think.

And I saw that stupid trailer for Lady in the Water. That looks truly awful. My mom was revolted.

That's because August is a much better month for a birthday –Mediwitch

Totally with you on that one.

Lina, never heard that one before! LOL! Julie-GE, happy birthday to stepson and great job to you!! That's fantastic!

Didn't really read through all of the posts, so sorry if I missed anybody…

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Lilly P - Jul 2, 2006 3:28 pm (#1879 of 2979)

Hi to all, Great job Julie!, Boo on all the laundry, but having the kids back is worth it isn't it Denise! I miss mine just the 6 hours/week that she goes to the drop in day care!

Mr. P got to call today from Iraq to say Happy Aniversary! Always good to hear his voice and know that he is ok. 6 years! we did the math over the phone and he has only been in the U.S. for 3 years and 2 months of our marriage! I'll be glad when he is done with the military and I get a "full-time husband"!

I did start my own forum on world crossing, called "Coloring outside the lines" and there is a recipe section that I want to fill with recipies from all over the world, so if any of you have the time, I would love to see some recipies that are speciffic to your country, or your region of the US! Thanks!

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Tazzygirl - Jul 2, 2006 3:58 pm (#1880 of 2979)

Yeay to Good Evans!

Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Lilly P.! That is wonderful he got to call home! (Is there any way you could do a link to your Forum?)

It is hot here again.

Hope you two had fun tubing, Tori and Ginny!

Have a great RotD/N everyone!

~Kristina

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Lilly P - Jul 2, 2006 4:13 pm (#1881 of 2979)

I'll try and do a link Tazzy, just as soon as I figure out how! Thanks for the well wishes, yipee! to Denise P, for bing my first Lexicon member to post on my forum, I knew I could count on you guys! ***off to learn how to post a link to my forum***

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Denise P. - Jul 2, 2006 4:24 pm (#1882 of 2979)

Psst, Lilly, if you scroll to the very bottom of your forum, there is a link there. It will say Link to this forum: URL here

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Lilly P - Jul 2, 2006 4:37 pm (#1883 of 2979)

http://wc3.worldcrossing.com/webx?14@@.1de07cfc

Here ya go Tazzy, when I was reading how to do a link, there was a warning about linking to other sites because of being responsible for content so I'll just say now that I'll keep my forum to the same rules of conduct as this one!

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Puck - Jul 2, 2006 5:19 pm (#1884 of 2979)

Lilly P., just posted on your site! So glad you got to talk to your hubby today.

Hubby wanted to go to the outlet stores. He didn't find what he wanted, but I got new shoes *waves to Kristina* and next year's Easter dress for Diva. (I got a good deal at one of those fancy dress boutiques.) Plus, there was a sale at Lindt chocolate outlet. I found the 85% dark someone here mentioned, plus some 99%, so I have plenty of dark chocolate. I had planned to stay home today and clean the kitchen, but new shoes and chocolate are way better!

Happy RotD!

Kathy

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Tazzygirl - Jul 2, 2006 5:38 pm (#1885 of 2979)

Thanks Lilly! Off to check out your forum!

EDIT: I made it there! As soon as I think of stuff to add to your discussions, I'll head on over and post!

**waves to Puck** Yeah- new shoes and chocolate- what could be better??

~Kristina


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geauxtigers - Jul 2, 2006 6:01 pm (#1886 of 2979)

Back from the river! Tons of funn, but I'm exauhausted! You never realize how much strength is needed to knee-board and hold onto a tube! It was nice, it rained lighty on us practically the whole time, so it wasn't hot. I was atually cold at one point! LOL the rain cooled us down, looks like we maybe got a drop here at home, but however much it was, it wasn't enough!

Off to take a shower and try to comb through my rat's nest of hair...

have a great night, I'll check back later!

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Mediwitch - Jul 2, 2006 6:14 pm (#1887 of 2979)

New shoes and chocolate Kathy ~ what an excellent day!!!!

Sounds like tubing was a blast Tori, glad you had fun.

We celebrated Mr. Mediwitch's birthday today with the family (it's really on Friday) - both kids came home, and my parents and of course, his dad. It was nice to see everyone, but it's nice to sit down and relax now! Time to check some threads...

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Denise P. - Jul 2, 2006 6:33 pm (#1888 of 2979)

I took my two Boy Scouts to camp today. Nicholas was less than thrilled but I know when he gets there, he is going to have fun. I have to go back to pick them up on Friday and then on Monday, Devin, Rhys and I go to the same place for a few days.

We have some family coming in since Kaitlyn is being baptized. I think while my dad is here, we are going to attempt to go down to Chattanooga to the aquarium.

We are birthday free here until August, when Rhys will be one. We only have July, September and October with no birthday or anniversary in it. June is our busy month, we have two birthdays, a transplant and an anniversary all in the same week.

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 2, 2006 6:36 pm (#1889 of 2979)

Well I already can't move, so I'm not sure how I will tomorrow! Anyway, nice day today, had tons of fun, and learned that my dad should never try to knee board or tube again! he was dreadful.

Woke up this morning with my ear hurting..how random? *hopes sinus infections can't be spread through the internet!*

Well I'm too tired to remember anything else tha tI was going to say so have a great RotN everyone.

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Holly T. - Jul 2, 2006 6:57 pm (#1890 of 2979)

Hello everyone! I am back from vacation.

Marie--we just spent the past 8 days in Virginia--we didn't go to Busch Gardens, though. We went to lots of battlefields and spent three days at Colonial Williamsburg. We were in northern Virginia during the torrential rain, so we had to alter some of our plans, but for the most part things turned out ok. We headed south and got away from the rain!

My throat quit hurting about the third day of vacation and I finished my antibiotics a few days ago.

I skimmed back a bit before hitting recent and send sympathies to kaykay about her doggie, healing charms to those who need them, birthday and anniversary wishes, etc.

Kathy--you know those growth charts the pediatricians use are based on formula-fed babies, right? According to those charts my daughter was never above 50% in anything--usually she was more like 5 or 10%. She only weighed 18 pounds when she turned 1. For that matter, she just turned 11 and only weighs 69 pounds. I've had a lot of friends whose doctors got them all freaked out about underweight babies when they weren't taking the babies' feeding into account. My doctor had a great attitude about it--he said his daughter was barely on the charts and she was fine.

I really shouldn't be online. The alternative is laundry, though. That and dreading work tomorrow. I just have to make it through one day before I get a day off. My mom says I should have just stayed on vacation past the 4th but I think it will be nice to go back, spend a whole day catching up on e-mail and such, then have a day off (to finish the laundry), then a three-day week. A three-day week that ends with a meeting at which I may find out I'll be working for a different department. See, I haven't even thought about this for over a week and now I'm back home and have to get all stressed again. Sigh.

I did see a TV report about the interview with Jo where she mentioned the characters dying!

Editing to add what I came here to post! My daughter LOVED her Hogwarts letter. I had the person on eBay address to my daughter care of the hotel we were staying in the night of her birthday and snuck it onto a table while my daughter was helping bring stuff in from the car. She was thrilled. She did ask me where I ordered it from. My husband liked the part of the letter where it said she could bring a cat to school because he would love to get rid of our daughter's cat. He kept threatening to walk into a bookstore in Williamsburg to see if they had robes and spellbooks for her. My daughter swore she would never speak to him again if he did so--dads can be so embarrassing, you know!

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Finn BV - Jul 2, 2006 7:44 pm (#1891 of 2979)

Holly, welcome back. Glad the letter was a hit!

Lilly, I've visited your forum! Great job!

Glad tubing was fun, Tori and Ginny!

Enjoy the RotD!

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Madam Pince - Jul 2, 2006 9:06 pm (#1892 of 2979)

Fiddlesticks! I could've probably visited you, too, Holly, while you were on vacation! I was in northern Virginia during the torrential downpours also! Oh well. Marie, I am going to look up the towns you mentioned in your e-mail -- I'm not familiar with them so they must be pretty far away, alas earwax. But fingers crossed!

I was just reading on another thread that The Saint and The One got engaged after meeting on a HP website -- not sure if it was this one or not. Got me to wondering about Brandon and Sarah -- anyone know where/how they are? They were supposed to get married a year or so ago I think.

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Amilia Smith - Jul 3, 2006 2:15 am (#1893 of 2979)

I have a question for our UK members: How does the British TV season work?

I ask because I have recently been discovering Fawlty Towers, which only has 6 episodes per season. Which got me to thinking . . . Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster only had 6 episode seasons as well. So I checked some of my other favorites on IMDb, and it seems that a BBC sitcom season can last anywhere from 6-13 episodes, with most of them leaning towards the 6 side.

So then I looked up some American sitcoms. A season here seems to run around 24 episodes.

Is the television season there really so much shorter? Or are episodes just spaced more? Maybe this is why British sitcoms are so much better than American sitcoms on average. They take more time on each episode.

Or maybe only the good stuff makes it across the pond.

But in the mean time, what does the television play?

Mills.

EDIT: The mystery grows! Early seasons of Dr. Who had upwards of 45 episodes. Midway through the first run, they switched to 26 episodes/season. By the end they were down to 14 e/s. The new series is running at 13 e/s. Hmmmmm.

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azi - Jul 3, 2006 2:44 am (#1894 of 2979)

Hmm, Amilia, I'm not sure! New episodes of programmes are generally spaced out so there's one a week. I think the schedule is worked out in four seasons. We don't have many sitcoms here, but quite a few documentaries and drama which fill in space between episodes. During the day we have the influx of shows related to house selling/buying/renovating and antiques programmes. The late afternoon is childrens programmes, while the evening is news and the sitcoms you mentioned and possibly a documentary or a drama (on BBC1 anyway). Oh, we also have soaps like Eastenders. I've noticed a lot of programmes that last for 3 episodes recently, not a series but a one-off story.

Yesterday was boiling hot. I could barely cope with the heat, especially since being near horses and hay sets my asthma off. I took my Ventolin more than I should have. I was pre-warned by a friend in Manchester that a huge thunderstorm was headed my way at home, and he was right. Just a we reached the south of Sheffield we hit it. I have *never* seen so much lightening in my life! The rain was so bad the motorway was reduced to 40mph (70 limit, people generally do 80+). Quite a lot of flash flooding and loads of buildings stuck by lightening. It was spectacular though.

Hope everyone has a good day!

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Snuffles - Jul 3, 2006 3:00 am (#1895 of 2979)

Heh, heh, azi. Trust a student to know all the tv programmes!!

The weather here has been fantastic over the weekend. Lovely and warm. We decided to have a bbq on Saturday for my sister in law. She was 40 the other week but conveniently decided to be away on holiday!! My hubby's 2 sisters were there with their children, plus us 3 and my brother in law brought along his girlfriend for us all to meet at last Had a great time but did find out yesterday that my brother in law and girlfriend decided to separate!! Hope it wasn't anything we said!!!

Then yesterday we went to a boating lake, hired a rowing boat and spent a fun filled hour laughing our way around!! We all took it in turns to row. Myself and my sister in law tried for about 15 mins but I don't think we actually moved!!

Well done to Julie (Good Evans) on your run.

Hope everyone has a good Monday

Julie

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azi - Jul 3, 2006 3:10 am (#1896 of 2979)

Hehe, Snuffles! I don't even watch the programmes! Most of it's rubbish anyway...I just noticed in my boredom that the pattern is followed. The BBQ sounds nice, and boating is very fun!

I forgot to say congratulations to Good Evans in my previous post! Suffice to say I couldn't run quarter of a mile. Therefore you'd beat me anyday.

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Amilia Smith - Jul 3, 2006 3:30 am (#1897 of 2979)

Thanks, Azi! I am slightly relieved to learn that you have rubbish over there too. :-)

I probably ought to go to bed.

Mills.

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jose043 - Jul 3, 2006 4:06 am (#1898 of 2979)

Hi All

Anne & I went to our Asthma specialist & found out we both have bronchitis. We are on antibiotics, Cough medicine & the nebuliser

My Mum has started to recover & Rob is recovering from his bout of flu though still has his cough.

Healing charms to all that need them & those that have been doing their 5mile runs glad it is you & not Anne & I we might be able to walk it but deffernly not run it.

Josephine & Anne

Little Werewolves of London

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azi - Jul 3, 2006 4:15 am (#1899 of 2979)

Get well soon!

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haymoni - Jul 3, 2006 4:20 am (#1900 of 2979)

Good Evans - I prefer to "glisten" rather than "glow"!

Took today off. It was an inspired idea if I do say so myself.

Hubby has to work.

The Beautifulest One wants to go back to the zoo. I'll have to check my motivation level.

Something is wrong with our doorbell. It rings for no reason. It worked fine before we put siding on the house. Either Peeves has left Hogwarts or "somebody" messed up the wiring.  

No big plans for the 4th. I have some burgers, dogs, corn, watermelon and a box of sparklers. I think I'm set!

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Puck - Jul 3, 2006 5:43 am (#1901 of 2979)

I wondering if I can talk hubby into taking 3 kids out while I finally get the kitchen clean. It's day three of our 4 day weekend, and I have yet to get there. Or, perhaps skip the kitchen and we can all go mini-golf. (They just put in a new course at the ice cream place, so we'd have to get ice cream, too. )

Healling charms refreshed, Anne and Josephine!

Holly, glad you had fun! I think the pediatrician just doesn't want her falling off the curve. Her height is still average, so it's just her weight. (Incidently, I'd be impressed if my kids hit 70 pounds by age eleven. My son is 6 and still hasn't hit 40. He was 32 at 3, and has grown a foot taller since.) I'm just hoping I'll be able to get him a Hogwarts letter in 5 years!

Okay, lots of housework to do....(We've all been home, yet I still seem to have lots of laundry!)

Cheers!

Kathy

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Loopy Lupin - Jul 3, 2006 6:12 am (#1902 of 2979)

Every time I see the new Lady in the Water trailer it reminds me of the Village trailer...........And, of course, our theater is booked for this monstrosity.....—Mike

LOL. Ah, this and the other comments about this trailer warm my heart. We won't be fooled again!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I spent most of it helping a friend put a new tub into a bathroom. I had forgotten how much I detest manual labor. Sunday was swimming in a friends pool. I don't have today off, so I'm at work playing on the computer. I'd like to be the first to suggest (well, at least the latest to suggest) that we should change this holiday to be "Independance Day" and have the first monday in July off. Middle of the week holidays are nice, but I want the three day weekend please.

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Chemyst - Jul 3, 2006 6:47 am (#1903 of 2979)
Edited Jul 3, 2006 7:19 am

we should change this holiday to be "Independance Day"

*[came back and edited out snarky reply]*

 **thinks she'll stick with a more conventional independence until they get us a sic smilie**

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Marie E. - Jul 3, 2006 7:29 am (#1904 of 2979)

The nice thing about having a Tuesday holiday is that most of our daycare parents are taking today off so we'll be down to almost no kids. Hopefully it'll be a nice, quiet day. I would have liked a three day weekend, too.

We've had a lot of afternoon thundershowers lately and they're predicted to last all week. I don't mind the rain if it'll keep us from going on water restrictions again. Trying to remember which day is our day to water the grass is too much stress.

My girls have never been above the 25% in weight. Their doctor just checks to be sure they are following the same curve. She's concerned about Shayla since her ADD meds suppress her appetite. I think Shayla only gained two pounds last year. I bought her Pediasure (a flavored nutritional supplement drink) but she doesn't like the taste. Shayla is 9 years old and weighs about 53 pounds. Lexie is seven and weighs 48 pounds. Even though Lexie is on the same medication as Shayla, I haven't noticed any changes in Lexie's appetite. Then again, Lexie has always been a "good eater".

Happy Monday!

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Steve Newton - Jul 3, 2006 7:29 am (#1905 of 2979)

As I recall it, Independence Day is the name of the Holiday. The State of Delaware agrees here:

http://www.delawarepersonnel.com/labor/holidays/2006.shtml

When we are without power at home for 7 hours I get a little testy. I couldn't check the Forum or box scores. Sigh.

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Lilly P - Jul 3, 2006 7:48 am (#1906 of 2979)

Haymoni- I would have the doorbell checked right away, we had the same thing happen when the new roof was put on and all the hammering knocked the wiring loose, the electrician said we could have had a fire.

My daugher is also only at 10% for weight, she was slightly premature (28 days). she is healthy as a horse and eats like one too! Some times I think these doctors don't take into account things like diet or genetics, my Mom and my Mother-in-Law are both tiny, petite women who don't weigh much more than 100lbs. And we are a strictly NO junk food family. As long as Annemarie is eating right and not losing and percentile points I just let her eat regular meals and snacks (they tried to have me put her on a high-calorie diet). Annemarie dosn't care for the Pediasure either. any way, I'm off to check the threads, Much thanks to thoes of you who posted on my forum, I'm going to try Denise P's Pizza recipe tomorrow after I go shopping!

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Denise P. - Jul 3, 2006 8:00 am (#1907 of 2979)

I have fought, literally, for years with pediatricians who look at the scale and not the baby. All of my kidlets start out like whoppers and then quickly drop off the chart. Two of mine where checked for thyroid problems, heart problems..you name it and they came up clean. By the time this happened with the third one, I came in armed with medical records from the others. I was told there was no way that "failure to thrive" was something that ran in a family yet I had proof that all mine didn't "thrive" (never mind they met all developmental milestones, were happy and well adjusted...they were not babies with rolls of fat on them) We just went through this with Rhys too. The doctor raved about how well he was doing, how advanced he was, that he was doing wonderfully and then she looked at the scale. Suddenly, his brain was not growing and she wanted to run all kinds of tests...which I refused. "Don't you want to find out what is wrong with him?" Nothing is wrong with him! When we came home, I looked in the other baby books and at the same age, Rhys is actually the heaviest of my kids.

Look at the baby, not the scale and for those mamas who nurse, those growth charts are designed with formula fed babies in mind.

**climbing off my soap box**:

Pediasure, if you look on the website, there are loads of recipes (or they used to be) When Devin was needing to put on pounds after chemo, he would drink Pediasure but when he didn't want to, we put it in pancakes, in bread, in anything we could to get the extra calories to him. We had some peanut butter milkshake thing we would make him with ice cream that was 1200 calorie!

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Loopy Lupin - Jul 3, 2006 8:23 am (#1908 of 2979)

**thinks she'll stick with a more conventional independence until they get us a sic smilie** -- Chemyst

See, working on a day and during a time when I should be sleeping interferes with me internal speller.

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Eponine - Jul 3, 2006 9:11 am (#1909 of 2979)

My niece and nephew are almost the exact same size. Ruby is 6, and Ryan is 3 and a half. They wear the same size shoe, and are so close in weight and height they're often mistaken for twins. Ruby is just very very small for her age, and Ryan is tall for his. Sometimes, I forget how big actual six-year-olds are because I'm used to dealing with one who is just tiny.

The cable guys are here working in the neighborhood this morning, and I'm a little put out at them because I'd been downloading something (that was taking FOREVER) and they cut the internet off just before it finished.

On the job front, Mr. Eponine has several interviews this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be able to get a job that doesn't require travel because I'm tired of him being gone all the time. He's actually home for a couple of weeks right now, but over the last several months, he's only been home for the weekends. Any good luck charms would be appreciated.

Way back for Valentine's Day, Mr. Eponine got me a gift certificate to a (sort of) local pasta restaurant that makes the best food ever. It's a little out of our everyday price range, so we didn't go that often (and it's a bit of a drive to get there). Since he'd been traveling so much, we hadn't got a chance to use the gift certificate until now. So Friday afternoon, we got dressed up and drove out to the restaurant only to find that it's closed now. I was quite annoyed. I looked online to see if I could figure out what happened, and the only thing I could find was a short blurb in the Raleigh paper about the restaurant closing permanently. I'm annoyed because it was really good food, and I've never had pasta as good as theirs anywhere. And I'm annoyed because now we have a useless gift certificate.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great RotD!

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Lilly P - Jul 3, 2006 9:40 am (#1910 of 2979)

Boo on the resurant closing Eponine! Do you know if it is a chain? if so you might be able to contact them and cash in the certificate. or use it at another resturant that is owned by the same corporation. We did that when I worked at the Galaxy Diner, we honored all certificats from JB's resturant. because they were both owned by Summit Industries. *good luck charms to Mr. Eponine* I understand about hubby being gone! (mine is in Iraq) so I send *sympathy charms* to you! I wouldn't be able to do it if it weren't for all the other military wives who are here and going through the same thing, is there any sort of spouse support group with your husbands company?

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 3, 2006 9:46 am (#1911 of 2979)

Good Luck charms to Eponine!

Well I'm paying now for my dad of fun-I can hardly move I'm so sore. Going to the doctor today to see about my ear. Hope its nothing bad...like a bug in it or something..

Tomorrow is America's 230th birthday!!!

I never noticed how our TV seasons work here. I thought they all started at different times and ran for a variety of episodes. I do know that none of them have ever lasted less than 10 or 11 episodes.

Have a GRotD everyone!

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Denise P. - Jul 3, 2006 9:57 am (#1912 of 2979)

The average US TV season of a show is 20-24 episodes, depending on a variety of things. If it is a mid-season replacement, it will have less. Many shows get cancelled after less than 5 eps and have unaired episodes.

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HungarianHorntail13 - Jul 3, 2006 10:34 am (#1913 of 2979)

I haven't posted in a while.

Priscilla and I say thanks for all the Happy Birthdays!

We have some funny bug stories.

Once Trevor was trying to eat an ant from outside. He said he found it in the pool.

Once this 4in. mosquito came after me when I was getting a movie from the cabinet, and I screamed so loud that mom came running in because she thought there was a burglar. Mom yelled at me.

Another time we were down in Disney with some friends eating dinner outside. This big black thing hops up next to the table, and I thought it was a frog. My face was about 2 in. away from it before I realized that it was a giant bug!

After skimming through the past 600 posts, I can't remember any more.

._Olivia

Edit:

Remembered something:

Mrs. Sirius, you have a guinea pig? I had one too, and it used to kick it's before pellets, after pellets and kitty litter all over the floor. Dad stopped him from doing that by putting large pieces of plastic over the cage. He didn't live to be very old, so we got some chinchillas after him.

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Madam Pince - Jul 3, 2006 10:50 am (#1914 of 2979)

Oh Eponine, that must be sooooo frustrating! (Both the Internet download and the restaurant, but mostly the restaurant!) Phooey. Anyway, good luck charms on the job hunt!

That reminds me - I think I forgot to say good luck to Dizzy Lizzy on the new school program - way better than looking for a job!

I have a cousin who is a teeny tiny little girl. I think she's almost six, and she wears about a size 3T. Perfectly healthy, just very petite, like her mom was at that age.

Little Pince's 4-year checkup was Friday, and he was only in the 20th percentile for both height and weight. In the past he's been in the 60th or 70th for height but has always been low on weight, but now he's evening out, I guess. His doctor is perfectly OK with it, though. He's an endocrinologist by specialty so I guess he understands better than most pediatricians, maybe. Little Pince is healthy, meeting all the development stages, and eats what I consider to be extremely well, he just doesn't pack on the pounds. I did notice how skinny he looked at swim class -- when you could really see the ribs and shoulder blades! I was the same way when I was in school -- we used to get "graded" (I suppose it was really scaling) on physical development, and we'd either get an "S" (satisfactory) or a "U" (unsatisfactory.) My mom fought the battle every 6-weeks grading period -- she thought the term "unsatisfactory" was just wrong. The doctor told her to just chill out and ignore it -- he said "What do they expect? She's got a skinny mama and a skinny daddy!"

Worse deal was the vaccinations Little Pince had to get Friday -- the DaPT made his upper arm all red and swollen, which apparently is pretty typical for the last shot in the series. He doesn't seem bothered though, says it itches a little, and his appetite has been low this weekend, and we've had one or two minor unpleasantnesses, but overall typical vaccination stuff. Dr's office said no worries.

Everyone have a great RotD!

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Thora - Jul 3, 2006 11:50 am (#1915 of 2979)

Madam Pince,

My daughter's immunization just did that. The red, hard, hot, and itchy area was bigger than my palm. The doc put her on benedryl and antibiotics, mostly to shut my mouth I think.

Thora

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Madam Pince - Jul 3, 2006 12:13 pm (#1916 of 2979)

Yes, Thora, that sounds familiar -- it is about the size of my palm and it is hot, too. Or I should say was; it feels much better this morning. I have just now noticed, however, that he feels hot now, and we've had more "unpleasantness." I swear, I hate to take him to the doctor's office for well visits. He comes home un-well every single time -- very frustrating. I try to keep him from touching anything but it is a losing battle with all the enticing toys and the aquarium and all in the waiting room. Then I washed his hands while in the exam room and as soon as we left, and used the antiseptic handwash stuff at least four times. Sigh.... Oh well, it wouldn't be a holiday if he wasn't sick I guess.

And the real kicker is that the day after the doctor's, we got a letter in the mail saying that he's wait-listed for Pre-K anyway, so we didn't even really need to go have those shots yet; we could've waited until next year. So I guess this fall will find me breaking out the home-schooling manuals to get started on writing and telling time and all those fun things we've not worked on yet. ***waves at Chemyst who will be very happy ***

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geauxtigers - Jul 3, 2006 12:33 pm (#1917 of 2979)

the motorway was reduced to 40mph -Azi, yall use mph in England?

I was always very little for my age, I'm not anymore, but I was extremly upset in 1st grade when I was the shortest person in the class! lol, I was always pretty skinny too, I remember my mom talking about my ribs sticking out. Not so much anymore, but I do have very "whimpy" looking arms. Don't remember having toruble with doctors about it though.... I'm not short really anymore, but I'm not tall either.

Yeah I can hardly move today I'm so sore, I guess my whimpy arms aren't as strong as I thought!

Gosh my brain is drawing a blank on everything else.

Good luck charms to Eoponine! Charms to everyone else I forgot!

off to check the threads, later!

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Puck - Jul 3, 2006 12:42 pm (#1918 of 2979)

Madame Pince, don't sweat the clocks and letters. They do that in kindergarten.

When I was 12 or 13 I weighed 97 pounds. The nurse plotted it wrong on the chart, 40 or 50 pounds heavier than I was. The doctor, who apparently looked at the chart more carefully than she did me, told me I was "a bit heavy". I went home upset about this, believing I was "fat". I didn't know it was a mistake until the following year, when they complained about the weight I had lost. Seriously dangerous business, telling a skinny girl she needs to lose weight.

Cobain, apparently, has no such issues. It looks from the picture he out-weighs my nine month old. (She weighs 16 1/2 lbs.)

Luck charms to Mr. Eponine! Sorry about the restaurant.

We went swimming at the neighbors house late morning, and have lessons tonight. Chilling out to let the kids rest for a while in between.

Cheers!

Kathy

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Madam Pince - Jul 3, 2006 3:21 pm (#1919 of 2979)

Sending thoughts to those in Spain affected by today's train accident -- hope no Forum members were immediately involved.

My monitor has been "shivering" and doing other odd things today. I wouldn't be surprised if it's getting ready to go up, so who knows if I may "disappear" soon....

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Denise P. - Jul 3, 2006 4:40 pm (#1920 of 2979)

We went out this evening to get fireworks for tomorrow. It is weird, it is technically illegal to shoot fireworks within the city limits but you purchase them in the city limits and the local paper lists the hours you can shoot them off.

We already had some (since we can buy them year round here). We did load up on metal sparklers, mostly they sell the crummy wooden ones. The kidlets like the sparklers while Dad shoots off the stuff that goes up in the air and spins on the ground.

Kaitlyn has a baptism coming up and trying to get her to decide on what songs she wants, who she wants to speak etc is like pulling teeth. I think we finally have it nailed down but her main concern is what kind of cake we will be serving (half white, half chocolate with buttercream frosting, have not decided on the decorations yet)

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Solitaire - Jul 3, 2006 5:22 pm (#1921 of 2979)

About those "underweight" kids ... with all the information blaring out at us about childhood obesity, I should think doctors would back off unless it appears a kid is actually starving himself. Besides, haven't they heard of high metabolisms or ectomorphic frames?

If kids are "trained" to eat a high-calorie diet, won't their bodies eventually learn to crave that diet? Kids are exposed to junk food as soon as they begin to eat away from home. If they are eating a sound, healthy, natural diet and they push the plate away when they are satisfied, maybe they won't have to contend with diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity when they are older. Of course, I'm not a mom, so maybe I am misunderstanding the situation.

Solitaire

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 3, 2006 5:59 pm (#1922 of 2979)

I tend to agree with you Solitaire, and they wonder why so many kids are obese these days. Just look at the commercials for Micky D's- they try to make you think that by getting your kid apple dippers with caramel sauce is sooo much better than fires, when in reality, it's not that much better because the caramel is basically pure sugar. All the commercials just make me wanna gag! And sadly there are people who believe it. One of my friends did a report on Micky D's once and she went to their site and read up on nutrition facts. A double cheese burger has the same calories as one of the salads(can't remember which one) and it almost all came from the dressing. Doctors shouldn't be worrying that a baby is underwieght, because it's not as dangerous as being over wieght. Another thing thst still amazes me is how quickly times have changed. 6yrs ago, when I was little, we spent most of the time outside riding bikes and getting ourselves into some sort of harmless trouble. All the kids I babysit just want to sit there and play video games or watch TV. I can't remeber doing it that much when I was in 1st-5th grade. It just amazes me taht they can sit there that long! I can't do it today even!

*ok rant over*

Went to the Doctor about my ear and it's some version of swimmers ear and wax build up. He gave me these drops that don't feel too good in my ears, but I have to go back in 2 weeks to have wax "vaccumed" out. That scares me a bit, I hope it's not really a vaccum.

Okay mom is making me clean..ugg so I'll check back later!

Have a great RotD everyone!

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Madam Pince - Jul 3, 2006 6:03 pm (#1923 of 2979)

I think you understand it exactly, Solitaire! That was my thinking, too.

I try to get mine to at least taste everything we're serving, even if he professes "That's yucky" just to get him exposed to eating a variety, but I won't cram things down him. And if I know he really despises something (like eggs), then he doesn't have to eat it, but has something else instead. I can't imagine shoving high calories unless there truly was a serious illness that was causing them to be unable to eat normally.

We won't need to buy fireworks -- our neighbor down the street who has the mentality of a 10-year-old will provide us with all the noise we need. He starts about a month ahead of time and keeps going until he can't find fireworks for sale anymore. Our poor dog is almost psychotic the whole month of mid-June to mid-July, what with him combined with summer thunderstorms.

The community is having a family-friendly event tomorrow with music and a big fireworks show at 9:30 -- it's our county's 300th anniversary, so it's a bigger deal than normal.

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Marie E. - Jul 3, 2006 6:41 pm (#1924 of 2979)

We're not allowed to shoot off fireworks in our county due to the fire ban, but the city is still holding a fireworks show at the big park downtown. I hope the weather clears up because it's been raining for almost 7 hours straight. Not much danger of starting a fire today.

Yes, Cobain is getting a bit chubby. I've been calling him Fatty McFatterson. Not to my sister, of course. She said at his 3 month check up he was 12 pounds. Or was it 2 month check up? Anyway, at 3 months my girls were only about 9 pounds. They both bulked up to 16 pounds by 6 months and then only gained two more pounds by age 1. I imagine Cobain will hit at least 25 pounds by his first birthday.

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Finn BV - Jul 3, 2006 6:50 pm (#1925 of 2979)

Josephine and Anne – major healing charms to you!!

Best of luck to Mr. Eponine's job hunt! And perhaps you can get in touch with the ex-management?

Welcome back, Olivia!

I was a rather chubby kid… hehe… 80lbs in third grade… but with all my athletics, the weight has disappeared and I'm at a normal Body Mass Index: 22.

Wow, just Googled the train accident. My thoughts are with Spain!

Happy 4th!

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geauxtigers - Jul 3, 2006 7:07 pm (#1926 of 2979)

Yeah a lot of kids are chubby when they are little, but thin out as they get older. Just looking over my yearbooks, I'm like oh my gosh look how chubby so and so used to be! I remember coming into 7th grade one of my friends I hardly recognized! He was pretty heavy, but now hes not so much anymore, he got so tall and thinned out considerbly.

Times have changed, I grew up playing video games, watching Tv ect, but more time was spent outside riding bikes ect. I could never have been inside sitting for that long and I'm still that way. I have to get up and at least do something besides just sitting here.

Fireworks are banned in our parish, but drive 10 minutes to the next parish and the firework stans are feet from the parish boundries! But we are more in the city area and where the rest of my family lives is not rural, but its not the city. Looks like we might not get to go to my aunt's house as they poured their driveway today I think and shes not wild about people being around it so soon, so might not get to hear the cannon until new years !

Yeah mom is making us fold their clothes! Me and Ginny have already done our laundry, folded it and put it away. Its frustrating because if she would just fold her clothes and put them away as they come out the drier, it would be that much easier! I've done mine I don't want to do hers too. So I'm off to do more laundry uggg!

I'm fixing to go google the train thing I haven't heard anything. I hope everything is okay, but it sounds like its not...

Have a good night!

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 3, 2006 10:17 pm (#1927 of 2979)

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great 4th everyone!! *shoots fireworks into the air*

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Snuffles - Jul 4, 2006 12:22 am (#1928 of 2979)

Happy 4th of July to all that celebrate!

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 12:40 am (#1929 of 2979)

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!! **joins Ginny in lighting fireworks** Hope all who celebrate have a safe and fun time celebrating!

I have to say 'safe' because once, when I was about 7, I thought I'd be smart and light my own sparkler at a neighborhood BBQ... I sat for the remainder of the evening on the porch with my hand in a bowl of ice. I had tried to light the sparkler on the BBQ grill, and had managed to burn three tips of my fingers in the process. It was not fun.

I used to have to fold my entire family's laundry when we had chore day. I soon started separating my clothes from everyone else's and just did my laundry. Didn't have to worry about folding anyone else's clothes after that!

I think I was in the normal range on the height and weight scale growing up. Sydney is three and she weighs about 28 pounds (according to the Dr., she is in the tall and lean catagory.). I don't remember what Nathaniel is, but I think he is in the 'okay' range too.

Off to bed!

~Kristina

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azi - Jul 4, 2006 2:04 am (#1930 of 2979)

Geauxtigers - yes, we do use mph. I can't stand km - it makes no sense!

Happy 4th July!

I was a lighter than average child, possibly due to my asthma medication which can slow growth. I weighed 3 1/2 stone at the age of 11 (I think that's about 49 pounds). Now I've got a BMI of about 21/22.

Happy days to all!

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The giant squid - Jul 4, 2006 3:04 am (#1931 of 2979)

My girls have never been above the 25% in weight. Their doctor just checks to be sure they are following the same curve. She's concerned about Shayla since her ADD meds suppress her appetite. I think Shayla only gained two pounds last year. I bought her Pediasure (a flavored nutritional supplement drink) but she doesn't like the taste. Shayla is 9 years old and weighs about 53 pounds. Lexie is seven and weighs 48 pounds. Even though Lexie is on the same medication as Shayla, I haven't noticed any changes in Lexie's appetite. Then again, Lexie has always been a "good eater".--Marie E.

Add them together & you get my weight. As Marie can attest, I've always been skinny. It doesn't get any better with the doctors, either--just recently my doctor told me I was perfectly healthy, my nutrition was good, etc., but that he wanted me to gain weight before my next visit. Hello? If I could gain weight don't you think I would have in the last, oh, twenty years?? I solved that problem though--I haven't been back since.

The average US TV season of a show is 20-24 episodes, depending on a variety of things. If it is a mid-season replacement, it will have less. Many shows get cancelled after less than 5 eps and have unaired episodes.--Denise P.

A "standard" American TV show will be picked up for 6, 13 or 22 episodes. It seems these days that the 22-episode show is getting rarer, as the TV studios like cancelling things. I can think of two shows this last year that ran exactly 2 episodes before being cancelled, and another one ran (I think) 4 before being put "on hiatus" indefinitely... I find it hard to get invested in a new show as you never know if it'll be around next week.

Happy Independence Day to all the American Forumers. And to all the British Forumers,

--Mike

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haymoni - Jul 4, 2006 4:11 am (#1932 of 2979)

Mike - go back to the doctor. He has to look like he's doing SOMETHING, so he tells you to gain weight.

We've been doing a Biggest Loser contest at work. I was at 31% body fat and now I'm at 26%. The only thing that I have done is work out for 1 hour Monday - Friday with shows on FIT TV. My weight is exactly the same and parts of me look even bigger, but I guess I'm not as fat. I think. My 90 days are up on July 12. Different people had different start days, so I don't think the whole contest is over until August sometime. The prize is $1000 so there is a little bit of motivation.

None of the kids in our neighborhood play outside except Ungrateful Son and The Beautifulest One. We were amazed at the number of children that were at the bus stop on the first day of school - we had never seen any of them! We always make the kids play outside, especially when other kids come over. You should see the look of surprise in their eyes!

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Puck - Jul 4, 2006 5:26 am (#1933 of 2979)

I've been called the "mean" mom for not letting kids come play inside when it's a nice day. I also stand firmly against those motorized cars for kids. You want to ride, then peddle! Seriously, I don't send them outside to sit there, I want them to move.

The doctor just suggested adding things like cheese and yogurt. However, she has a rash on her belly now, so maybe dairy is not such a good idea.

Okay, the news show has been on for almost 90 minutes, and not a mention of a train accident in Spain. Too much important stuff, like roasting marshmellos and some guy in Jordan using a picture of Brad Pitt for his fake ID. (It bugs me when American news does that. If it had happened here it would be non-stop coverage.)

Fireworks of any kind -even sparklers- are illegal. We will go to town fireworks tonight.

Happy 4th!

Kathy

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Madam Pince - Jul 4, 2006 5:33 am (#1934 of 2979)

It's 8:30 in the morning, and Moron Boy has already started with the fireworks. (That's the nicest of the many names I have for him; none of the others are Forum-friendly....)

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Puck - Jul 4, 2006 5:56 am (#1935 of 2979)

Suddenly, the guy with the loud Harley across the street seems less annoying.

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Chemyst - Jul 4, 2006 6:19 am (#1936 of 2979)

***waves at Chemyst who will be very happy ***   ~ Madame Pince

Indeed I am.
 Sorry about Moron Boy; …but your earlier story about the new cell phone, coupled with an even earlier mention of Tazzy helping put new numbers into her dad's phone leads me to this story about what must be one of the Major Wonders of the Technological World.  remember: I grew up with rotary dial phones when the only “preprogrammed” phone number was 0 for operator.
Anyway, it has to be one of the modern world’s great wonders— or at least a small conundrum, that that the tiniest, slimmest phones are most easily used with the largest, fattest finger (thumb). When I first saw actors on TV dialing cell phones with their thumbs, I thought it was their character just showing off…

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Good Evans - Jul 4, 2006 6:20 am (#1937 of 2979)

Happy Independance Day to all the Americans, they day we all celebrate our "parting of the ways" hee hee, Mike :smilie poking tongue out to you too!!:

However you celebrate, have a great day / night and try not to think too badly of us Brits!

It is so hot again, it is incredible. We had lovely recepion at the Victoria and Albert museum last night, it was fabulous. Mananged a couple of rhumbas and a quickstep and foxtrot, I love band music!

I am a bit tired today but I did sleep well in a lovely air conditioned room, funily enough not every room had it and those that didnt were not impressed!

Off to check the threads!

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boop - Jul 4, 2006 6:35 am (#1938 of 2979)

Marie, your nephew is so cute, My granddaughter was really chubby as a baby, but now she is thin.

Madam Pince, sorry to hear the noise has started this early.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Have a safe fun day.

hugs always

boop

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Good Evans - Jul 4, 2006 6:44 am (#1939 of 2979)

Hi Betty!!! (((hugs to you)))

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Catherine - Jul 4, 2006 7:07 am (#1940 of 2979)

Happy Independence Day!

We got back late from the Chesepeake Bay last night. It was lovely to sit on the beach, but we had temperatures in the upper nineties and a whole mess of jellyfish to contend with.

Claire was stung literally all over her body, while Hayley got a teensy sting on her rear end. Poor Claire spent Saturday doped up on pain medicine and antihistamines. No one wanted to swim after that, not that I can blame them, and then my parents' air-conditioner broke and leaked water through the ceiling. One thing that was amusing was that there were three shih-tzus in the house. My mother laughed to see me reading on the couch surrounded by puppies.

So, after much trauma and drama, I am thankful to be in my own air-cooled home minus the jellyfish (I wished that the Giant Squid could come scare them away, but alas earwax).

Oh, Chemyst, I think your idea of a sic smiley is wonderful--especially if we can sic Loopy Lupin before he sics me! *waves to Loopy*

I also browsed through the threads (Yikes, folks were busy) and noticed that Ludicrous Patents Office is posting with us again, so welcome back to LPO.

Denise, I hope the baptism goes well, and it sounds like Miss Kierryn has sorted out her priorties if she wants to make sure she's got a good cake.

*waves furiously to Lupin is Lupin just because*

Enjoy the holiday!

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Denise P. - Jul 4, 2006 7:38 am (#1941 of 2979)

Catherine, it is Kaitlyn who is more worried about the cake. Kierynn has about 5 years before she can worry about it

I am trying to get motivated and happy before I take my Scouts to the retirement community. I just hate wearing my uniform when it is over aout 85 since it is a heavy material and it doesn't breathe at all. Since it is a "formal" occasion, I need to wear pants rather than shorts with it as well. Ah well, it will only be for about an hour or so.

It is not even 10 am here and I am already being asked when we are going to the fireworks (which start at 9 pm)  

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Lilly P - Jul 4, 2006 8:02 am (#1942 of 2979)

Happy Independance Day to all the Americans, they day we all celebrate our "parting of the ways" hee hee,... However you celebrate have a great day / night and try not to think too badly of us Brits! -Good Evans

Hey, it's a great piece of property, we can't blame you for trying to hold on to it! I don't think bad about you at all!

And I love the "parting of the ways" reference, that's how I'm going to think of it from now on!

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Denise P. - Jul 4, 2006 8:29 am (#1943 of 2979)

Up until the late 1920's, my family didn't celebrate Independence Day. Why? They were all living in Sheffield, England! LOL My grandmother had 8 brothers and sisters, only she and my uncle were born in the US.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 4, 2006 8:47 am (#1944 of 2979)

Trying desperately to catch up, forgive me if I've forgotten anything.

Suddenly, the guy with the loud Harley across the street seems less annoying. We have 4 of those, Kathy!

Happy Belated Anniversary to Lilly P.

GEJulie, was it you who did the run? Great time and keep up the good work!

Healing charms to those who got stung (I've been stung by a Man-O-War and it isn't pretty).

Sorry to hear about the 'loud man' down the street, Madam Pince!

Yesterday it was 92 in the shade. I am thinking this, too will be a hot one. Trevor and Priscilla both have fevers, though Trev seems to be shaking it since yesterday. I think they caught something from the water park. Mr. HH doesn't think they use chlorine in those parks.

Friends from Baton Rouge safely back home. Their 10-year old son outweighs me by more than 10 pounds. Priscilla is 48 pounds and 9 years old. Olivia did not break 50 until she was well past 10. (So don't fret about the seemingly underweight kiddies.) I agree with what you said, Solitaire! Trevor, on the other hand, was only pounds away from Percy for the longest time. His nickname was (we still call him that sometimes, though he's stretched out a bit) chubby. Boy, did we get flack from friends for calling him that. He has just turned four and weighs 37 pounds. The thing that gets me about him is the incredible amount of pain he gets in his knee areas. I attribute it to growing pains. I am thinking he may get my father's side height-wise. My father was the shortest of three brothers at just over 6'1".

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!

GEJulie - how could we not like such nice people - after all, I married one!

Maria

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 4, 2006 9:25 am (#1945 of 2979)

It's raining!!! and hard too!! Of course it rains on a holiday that is normally spent outside...but I can't really complain since this is they first time its really rained since the beginning of may!

Change of plans...we are going to grannies house. She's making a brisket!YUM!! and she called my mom and asked her if we would eat a "macaroni salad" no clue waht that is but 10 bucks says she got it off some cooking show, that seems to be her lateset thing and they just aren't as good as her regular food! oh well the brisket should be good!

Once again Happy 4th!

off to check threads now.

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geauxtigers - Jul 4, 2006 9:57 am (#1946 of 2979)

Yeah it rained this morning for nearly an hour!!!! **Shocked look on face** I was begininng to forget what rain looked like! lol... Sorry about the jelly fish sting, Catherine. Glad you had fun with your friends from B.R. HH!

Off to check the threads before I have to go to Grannie's house! **Crosses fingers that it will rain some more** **knocks on wood for good measure**

Happy 4th too! Be careful everyone and don't light sparklers in the BBQ pit! **cough, Kristina, cough, cough**

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Puck - Jul 4, 2006 10:19 am (#1947 of 2979)

Ouch! Healing charms to poor Claire.

Maria, welcome back! Hope the little ones feel better soon. (Wondering, did the names Trevor and Percy come before or after you started reading HP )

Yeah for the rain, Tori and Ginny!

Looks like it's about to storm here as well.

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 10:39 am (#1948 of 2979)

Healing charms to those who need it!

Have fun where ever everyone is going to celebrate!

Fireworks are illegal here too, but people go over to the neighboring town where they are legal and bring them here. We've had fireworks go off for a couple days now. Normal people (like my family) go to this one shopping center that faces our town's little airport and watch the fireworks that the airport sets off. Much nicer.

Sad to say, but my dad is one of those guys with motorcycles. Although he does not have a Harley (he wants one in the worst way!) he has several of the dirtbike type. They have been pretty silent lately, as my brother no longer lives here (it was my dad and brother's hobby to go dirtbiking every weekend), but back when he was here, it was a nightmare at 8 in the morning.

Hope you all have a fantastic RotD/N!!

~Kristina

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Miss Amanda - Jul 4, 2006 10:44 am (#1949 of 2979)

Happy 4th Everyone!

I am so looking forward to seeing the fireworks again here in Nashville! They are the best I've ever seen, AND I can watch them inside a nice air-conditioned building. Some days I love high-rise buildings!

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Pigwidgeon - Jul 4, 2006 11:05 am (#1950 of 2979)

Happy Fourth of July! It's raining here, and has been all day. I feel sorry for those with visions of parades, barbeques and fireworks shows today. At least it's not hot, I guess.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 4, 2006 11:24 am (#1951 of 2979)

It is a bit muggy here and we have cloud cover with sprinkles.

Kristina, it is not the 8 a.m. rumbling that gets me - remember, I'm a morning person (*whistles “Arky Arky Song” to self*). It is when they come rolling in way past dark on a school night and my children are awakened.

Thanks, Puck! I missed everyone.

(Wondering, did the names Trevor and Percy come before or after you started reading HP ) – Puck

Oddly enough, they were both dubbed as such before HP. Olivia called Priscilla Percy because she was just four when her sister was born. It was just easier for her to enunciate. Likewise, Priscilla used to call Olivia Ovah and it sort of stuck. We had a great laugh when we realized our little man had been named after a toad! Priscilla, luckily, does not resemble Percy W. one iota.

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 11:35 am (#1952 of 2979)

Lucky for you, Pigwidgeon! I hate the heat, and it's gonna be hotter than blazes here. We have been in a heat wave (temps over 100) for about two weeks. We did have one cooler day last week ... around 99 in the shade. Alas, it was 104 yesterday and is expected to be in that general vicinity again today. They keep telling us cooler temps are on the way, but I haven't felt them. I love cool weather.

Solitaire

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Pigwidgeon - Jul 4, 2006 11:56 am (#1953 of 2979)

Oh, I'm not complaining Ick, I would hate that kind of heat. Nah, I had nothing planned. I'm not a morning person, and I don't fancy huge crowds. I have housework to do, anywho. So, what am I doing now? Chatting here and writing Harry Potter fancfic, heh heh. Ah well, the dust can wait. When the muse calls, one must listen.

Have a good holiday for my fellow Americans, and a great day to our friends overseas

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 4, 2006 12:02 pm (#1954 of 2979)
Edited Jul 4, 2006 12:47 pm

When the muse calls, one must listen.

Really like that one, Pidwedgeon. If you don't mind, I'll tuck that into the memory banks for just such emergencies.

EDIT:

Oh, Kristina, goodbyes can be depressing, especially in this case! I would love to visit overseas, so I know how you feel.

Mr. HH is in the pool - it is dark, overcast and I think I just heard rumbling.

Marie, Cobain is really cute! (Love the name, too.) I love those chubby chubby cheeks! That perpetual ache is kicking in again. No more babies in this house until grandchildren, I suppose. *sigh*

I don't know what to do with myself now. I kinda thought you were doing it.

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 12:04 pm (#1955 of 2979)

As of the moment, we have clear blue skies. Isn't as hot as it has been either.

**cooling charms and no rain charms for tonight to those who need them**

Maria- I have one of those loud Motorcyclists drive by my apartment in Hawaii everynight at the exact same time. I can see where you are coming from!

I am helping my mom pack for Ireland right now. They (along with me) leave tomorrow. It is very sad to think that they are getting on one plane to Ireland and I am on a different one back to Hawaii. Mom is extremely excited. My dad is too, but he also (like me) hates to fly so is kind of in a nervous twitter.

~Kristina


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Marie E. - Jul 4, 2006 12:24 pm (#1956 of 2979)

My brother was actually a chubby baby and toddler. He thinned out at around age five. I don't know where the doctors get their statistics because Shayla is about the same height and weight as all her friends.

We have a 40% chance of more rain this afternoon. We're leaving for a barbeque soon so I hope it blows over. I see some clouds outside right now, but all of the white, fluffy kind.

My children let me sleep in until 9am. I don't know what to do with myself now. I feel like I'll be up till 2am.

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The giant squid - Jul 4, 2006 1:16 pm (#1957 of 2979)

I wished that the Giant Squid could come scare them away, but alas earwax—Catherine

Alas, earwax, I was too busy restraining myself from slapping all the people who came to see The Devil Wears Prada this weekend. What were they thinking?

These days I have about as much respect for doctors as I do oil company executives. Both are beyond the realms of morality when it comes to price gouging...

--Mike

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 4, 2006 1:19 pm (#1958 of 2979)

Monsoon outside. Coming your way, Puck. Get out your waders.

LOL Mike! Are you sure you didn't just want an easy holiday weekend?

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haymoni - Jul 4, 2006 1:21 pm (#1959 of 2979)

Sorry, but I couldn't help but think of that "Friends" episode with the jellyfish. I hope the antihistamines worked!

I read somewhere that the BBC and some other British media are trying to grab some of the US market. I can't help but think the success of HP had something to do with it.

virginia elizabeth - Macaroni salad is like potato salad but uses pasta instead of potatoes. It isn't pasta salad, though. It is more mayonaissey.

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 1:45 pm (#1960 of 2979)

Macaroni salad is as old as the hills! My mom makes the best I've ever tasted, because she does not over-mayonnaise it. Warning: If your salad is going to be sitting outside in the heat for a while, I wouldn't even use mayo, as that is a good way to get food poisoning. In that case, use an olive oil based dressing.

Anyway, here is what Mom uses ...


1 package salad macaroni, cooked (rotini also works well)
1/2 cup finely chopped purple onion (I like more)
1/2 cup or more finely chopped celery(I like more)
1 small can of chopped olives, drained (I like more)
1 small jar chopped pimentos, drained (I use one large or 2 small)
1/4 cup or more finely chopped sweet pickles (I used drained sweet pickle relish, because I am lazy)
2-6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (The number of eggs depends on how well you like an "eggy" taste. I use less, Mom uses more. Warning:If you are going to leave this salad out in the heat, the eggs are something I would eliminate; they are what make the mayo a problem.)

Once the above things are mixed in a large bowl, I add about 1/4 cup of mayonnaise (Best Foods, not Miracle Whip) and mix it all together. I only add more if I need it, because I hate soupy macaroni salad. (You will also notice that I like extra goodies in the salad.)

Also add to taste the following things: vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. You could also stir these into the first 1/4 c. of mayo; I think it helps mix them in better. When I have mixed the salad to taste, I sprinkle on some paprika and mix that in. Voila!

This salad tastes best if you make it the day before, because that gives the flavors a chance to mingle better.

Solitaire

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Catherine - Jul 4, 2006 2:08 pm (#1961 of 2979)

Sorry, but I couldn't help but think of that "Friends" episode with the jellyfish. I hope the antihistamines worked! –Haymoni

Actually, Haymoni, an elderly lady had a bottle of dilute ammonia water at the ready, and we spritzed her with that, just in case it really worked. I guess that's the more hygienic way of curing the problem than in the manner of Friends.

The pool was incredibly crowded, and then closed early. But no jellyfish were there!!

Thanks for the recipe, Solitaire. If I wasn't so hot and tired, maybe I'd whip it up. *waves to Lupin is Lupin, who adores cooking!*

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 2:13 pm (#1962 of 2979)

You're welcome, Catherine. It really is quite yummy.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 4, 2006 4:03 pm (#1963 of 2979)

kaykay, so sorry to hear about Simba. (((Hugs))) to you and your family.

Still playing catch up with many interruptions. I've bounced around this thread trying to find the beginning so much, I've confused myself.

EDIT: A Happy Belated Birthday to Solitaire!

Hurray for premium membership, Regan! Can you elaborate a bit on what made you feel that way regarding Soldier's Heart? It did say ages 12 and up and it is on the 8th grade list.

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azi - Jul 4, 2006 4:08 pm (#1964 of 2979)

Anyone know how to get a but to stop crawling around when it is underneath your computer screen cover? It's really annoying!

Confusion happens to the best of us, HH!

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 4:43 pm (#1965 of 2979)

Thanks, HH ... it was a fun day!

Azi, I am assuming you mean a bug is crawling under your screen ... and I haven't any idea how to stop it, other than taking apart your monitor, which I do not advise! I guess you could call a computer repair shop and see what they suggest. Eventually, I suppose, it will die of starvation. I guess you could just wait it out ...

Solitaire

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Catherine - Jul 4, 2006 4:57 pm (#1966 of 2979)

I threatened/promised this on the "Fan" thread:

It appears that two people who met via their mutual liking for Harry Potter have decided to make their connection permanent.

Two members, The Saint, and The One, are celebrating their engagement to be married. How delightful that two HP fans have found one another!

I also read that The Saint will be joining The One in Norway. I'm sure you both count the days...

Congratulations to you both!

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 5:02 pm (#1967 of 2979)

Two chatters in my former room met online and were married in 2002. It happens. Congratulations to The Saint and The One!

Solitaire

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Finn BV - Jul 4, 2006 5:51 pm (#1968 of 2979)

I sat for the remainder of the evening on the porch with my hand in a bowl of ice. –Kristina

SPEW!! Though I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time… :tries to keep straight face:

*hugs to Betty:

Oh dear, healing charms to Claire.

I was too busy restraining myself from slapping all the people who came to see The Devil Wears Prada this weekend. What were they thinking? --Squid Mike

Oh, please. I'm not a chick flick, fashion magazine moviegoer, but it's a nice summer movie to go waste some money on on a boring Sunday like we had!!

I will rewish The Saint and the One my best.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

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geauxtigers - Jul 4, 2006 7:17 pm (#1969 of 2979)
Edited Jul 4, 2006 8:02 pm

. . . had a bottle of dilute ammonia water at the read . .. .

Ginny got stung and some lady put meat tenderizer on her leg... that just sounds weird! lol

Well back from Grannie’s, it rained for a while there, but when it stopped we went down the street to get fireworks. It was nice because it was overcast and not to hot and we could go barefoot as the ground wasn't scorching. We basicaly wasted 6 hours eating, and blowing things up via fire-crackers called "little dynomite". Some of the things included watermelon rinds and ant beds. it was fun and 2 of my cousins that were there are just as big of pyros as us so it was fun. And lets just say there are hundreds less ants in the world thanks to us! lol

I didn't try the macaroni salad, I didn't have room on my plate and my Grannie makes some weird looking stuff let me tell ya. Where she gets these ideas I may never know!

Congrats The One and The Saint!

Off to check the threads and pack for Houston. We leave tomorrow!

Have a great 4th everyone!

EDIT: Yeah I have no clue what happened there I edited it to fix a typo and that must have been how it came out messed up.

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 4, 2006 7:28 pm (#1970 of 2979)

Tori I'm assuming that you meant to say that some random lady put meat tenderizer on my jellyfish sting when I was 5 and that it worked, not whatever it was that you put.

Yes, we took those cheap metal sparklers and suck them in the ant bed down to where the metal didn't show, then stuck the "little dynamite" in next to them, lit all the sparklers and ran as they burned down and lit the dynamite! There were some pretty big holes in the ant beds too! hehe it was fun!! *evil grin*

Didn't try the macaroni salad either, it looked weird...I'm not a huge mayo fan unless its on a hamburger. There was also raw onions and cucumbers floating in what looked like vinegar....needless to say that bowl remained full!!

off to dry my hair and pack!

HaPPy 4tH!!

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 7:37 pm (#1971 of 2979)

Finn: SPEW!! Though I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time… :tries to keep straight face:

**said in dry tones** I feel the sympathy. Thanks.

**imagining 'little dynomite' in ant beds** If those ants are the fire ants from my nightmares of living in Mississippi... Are you two sure that you didn't get covered in them??? **shudders** Thanks for getting rid of a very small amound of them! LOL

Off to pack. Don't think we'll be seeing any fireworks tonight. Too much to do before tomorrow. The shuttle is picking my parents and me up at 10 in the morning. Mom and I are trying to find a Nail Salon that is open at 8 in the morning, so we can get our acrylic nails fixed. Mine are turning into claws. We went in yesterday to get them fixed, but the place we usually go to was packed, and all the others were by appointment only. They are all closed today.

~Kristina

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dizzy lizzy - Jul 4, 2006 7:41 pm (#1972 of 2979)

Well I'm back from the wedding!!! The ceremony was short and sweet and the reception was good fun. I got to catch up with my Aunts and Uncles and sat at a table with about 9 other cousins and we all had a ball. I wasn't overly impressed with the main couse served, but the dessert was a beautiful chocolate/coffee mousse in a pastry shell with crumbled rum balls on the top *swoons* Then we all got together the next morning for a big family breakfast.

I swear it never rains, but pours... I got another part-time job yesterday which now means I will not be going back to TAFE next semester. Funny how the moment I choose not to look for work, I get phone calls offering me work. I had to turn down two other offers of part-time work last night as well.

So now I have my Customer Service Officer position during the day (10am-2pm five days per week) and my casual waitressing job in the evenings (about 3-3.5 hrs per shift, 4-5 days per week). I'll be back to being a busy and slightly dizzy, Lizzy!!!

I'm going to hit the magic button now and do a few things around the house and tidy up.

Happy birthday/anniversaries etc for those who have had them lately and ((HUGS)) to those who need them....

Cheers

Lizzy

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 8:01 pm (#1973 of 2979)

Glad you had fun Lizzy! Welcome back!

~Kristina

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Finn BV - Jul 4, 2006 8:05 pm (#1974 of 2979)

Lizzy – sounds like things are going in your direction! Welcome back, congrats, and good luck!

EDIT: Tazzy, Five Words?

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Tazzygirl - Jul 4, 2006 9:13 pm (#1975 of 2979)

The fireworks are in full swing here! (can't see any of them though... Oh well. Next year!)

Finn- Five Words what? Posting spree? Running up to the posting limit on the thread very quickly? LOL! I just posted there, and realized it's an hour after you posted here. Sorry. (I'm taking turns in packing and coming to the forum. )

~Kristina

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 9:23 pm (#1976 of 2979)

My neighbors are all setting off fireworks in the street. Thank goodness my Quinn (14-year-old Sheltie) is as deaf as a doorknob. She is lying peacefully at my feet. Poor Stoney (her nephew) is running around like a duck in a shooting gallery, pacing back and forth, every time something goes off. I got home from dinner at my niece's home a few minutes too late ... the noise had already started, so he was already "revved up."

Oh, he is lying down now, by the side of my chair. I hope he stays there. I just turned on the TV and started the dishwasher. Hopefully, they will help mask the noise. Oh, he is walking again ... This could be a long night.

Solitaire

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 4, 2006 9:34 pm (#1977 of 2979)

If those ants are the fire ants from my nightmares of living in Mississippi... Are you two sure that you didn't get covered in them??? Tazzy

Yep pretty much all the ants down here are fire ants. They didn't see it coming so we weren't covered in them, but I've had it happen before. I'm slightly allergic to them so when they bit me it swells up to the size of a quarter, and nothing stops the itch! They hurt too! Oh well like Tori said, theres about a 100 less fire ants left in the world now!

I know how you feel Solitaire! My dog freaks out too! But she freaks out if she hears a doorbell on the TV so it's not that weird!

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Solitaire - Jul 4, 2006 9:49 pm (#1978 of 2979)

Quinn used to bark for about 5 minutes every time a TV doorbell rang. In some ways, her deafness is a blessing. LOL

An "old wives' tale" remedy for your fire-ant bites ...

Mix either ammonia or bleach with a bit of water and soak the affected area. It is supposed to "denature" the ant venom. Good luck!

Solitaire

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Mrs. Sirius - Jul 4, 2006 10:13 pm (#1979 of 2979)

Gooo Denise you tell them, the child not the chart!

When the girls were born they were on monitors in the NICU, bells would go off all the time. The nurses told us to look at the baby not the monitor. If the baby wasn't blue something else was the problem. Nurses are heros.

HH, our guinea pig is pretty well behaved. Mostly she hides, I think my boisterous kids scare her. But she just loves fresh green leaves, she comes out and muches right out of our hands for that.

Marie - Cobain (do you call him Bain?) is so cute, I love fat babies.

When my son was born he was in the 90% per centile for weight and 95% for height. He has remained in the high 90's. The girls on the other hand, were on the premies chart for the first 7 months. The oldest of the 3 is still on the low end of the scale. The middle one is just about average with her classmates and the youngest is well taller than many of her classmates, (these are the identical by the way).

Happy Birthday the US of A

I get really slobbery sentimental over the strangest music. Today they played "Coming to American" by Neil Diamond, that set me off, my girls think I am a bit off.

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Tazzygirl - Jul 5, 2006 12:10 am (#1980 of 2979)

Mrs. Sirius: "Coming to American" by Neil Diamond, that set me off, my girls think I am a bit off.

You are not alone.

Just finished packing, w00t!!

~Kristina

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Julie Aronson - Jul 5, 2006 2:46 am (#1981 of 2979)

Have a safe flight, Tazzy and family!

My Fourth was uneventful, but I'm hoping to accomplish a lot today. I get to start off by trying to fix my boyfriend's TV, for which I need to talk to Sharp's customer service. Then I'm hoping the plumber will stop by so I can get my gasline reconnected. Apparently, I have water in my line. I called the gas company, who sent someone to check out why my water heater kept switching off and why my oven and range top cooked so slowly. The water is disrupting the flow of gas to my appliances. Since I didn't buy the insurance sold by the gas company, I got TOTALLY SHUT OFF until I get a certified repair technician to fix the problem. Pulling My Hair Out

That means no hot water, no dryer, no cooking. Since Sunday. I thought natural gas was supposed to be practical and reliable. Ha. Not to mention that it's going to cost me between $700-1200 to get this fixed up.

grumble...grumble...grumble...walks away shaking head.

Have a great day, everyone!

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azi - Jul 5, 2006 5:04 am (#1982 of 2979)

Hope your gas problems get better soon Julie A! Sounds like a nightmare!

Glad to hear nearly everyone had a nice day yesterday! Hope everything gets better for those that didn't!

I'm scanning pictures from mine and my brothers younger years onto my computer. I think I was a cute toddler.

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Lilly P - Jul 5, 2006 5:49 am (#1983 of 2979)

There was also raw onions and cucumbers floating in what looked like vinegar....needless to say that bowl remained full!! –virginaelizabeth

Those are the BEST! you have to try them next time, I grew up on them, they are like a more mild version of pickles and not as salty and the onions give them a little spice. The marinated onions are GREAT on your hamburgers too! These are a BBQ staple where I'm from!

Anyway, Baby P and I rode the bike down to the parade field to watch the fireworks and she FREAKED out! She thought they were going to fall down and "get" me (she didn't seem concerned about herself, just me) she kept saying "Mommy watch out, they get you" it was so sweet, but she was really scared so I put her back in the bike seat and we left early, but I did get to see a few! Hope everyone else had a great time and didn't "over do it"

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Loopy Lupin - Jul 5, 2006 5:51 am (#1984 of 2979)

Oh, please. I'm not a chick flick, fashion magazine moviegoer, but it's a nice summer movie to go waste some money on on a boring Sunday like we had!! – Finn

But, if you wasted money on The Devil Wears Prada , that would indeed make you a "chick flick, fashion magazine moviegoer," at least for one boring Sunday.

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 5, 2006 5:55 am (#1985 of 2979)

Boy, Mrs. Sirius, you must have really been caught in an off moment. Anything coming out of Neil Diamond's mouth makes me want to run for cotton balls. Well, I think now I've figured out how to keep from getting too emotional during those insurance commercials.

Julie, how annoying - I hope you get a technician out right away (sometimes they make you wait). The money along with an extended wait would add insult to injury.

I am beginning to believe that NJ is destined to be swampland. Thunderboomers today and nothing but rain. Well, it does save me from having to go to the school and water all of the annuals.

We had a Husky named Kristie. All we would have to say to get her going was, "Who's there?" and she would jump to her feet and bolt to the door. Nope, no doorbells for her.

azi, maybe you can post some in your profile. I just love baby pics!

I printed your mac salad recipe, Solitaire. Thanks!

Oh, please. I'm not a chick flick, fashion magazine moviegoer, but it's a nice summer movie to go waste some money on on a boring Sunday like we had!!

Come on, Finn. It's good that you know how to get in touch with your feminine side.

Maria

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virginiaelizabeth - Jul 5, 2006 6:10 am (#1986 of 2979)

Lilly P., maybe next time I'll try the onions, I'm normally despise raw onions,(I love them cooked!) but it could be good, I just wasn't brave enough to try them!! Glad this wasn't something odd that my grannie dreamed up! Sometimes I worry about he because she can do it sometimes!

Ok just popping in to say bye! I won't be back till Friday! AHHH I'm sooo excitedd! I've heard the Galleria is amazing, but I can't wait to see for myself!!

Bye everyone! Have a great rest of the Week!!

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Marie E. - Jul 5, 2006 6:14 am (#1987 of 2979)

We went to a delicious barbeque yesterday. We didn't have macaroni salad, but there was potato salad and deviled eggs. Mmmmm. We had a pouting moment from Shayla when we got there because I forgot they had a big, above ground pool and the girls didn't have their swimming suits with them. They rounded up some old suit bottoms and t-shirts and everything was happy again. It rained for awhile in the evening, but stopped in time for the fireworks. We ended up sitting right under the fireworks and got hit a couple of time by falling ash and debris. It was a beautiful show.

I want to say thanks to Squid Mike for calling yesterday. It was nice to talk to you in person for a change.

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geauxtigers - Jul 5, 2006 6:22 am (#1988 of 2979)

Well we are fixing to leave for Houston, just checking in before we go. We should be back Friday. GO ASTROS!

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Julie Aronson - Jul 5, 2006 7:33 am (#1989 of 2979)

Thanks for the sympathy!

My favorite macaroni salad is a total cheat:

1 lb. small pasta, cooked

4 hard boiled eggs (or quantity preferred)

2 stalks coarsely chopped celery (or quantity preferred)

1 16 oz. bottle Marzetti slaw dressing (lite is OK--I can't tell the difference)

salt and pepper to taste.

Some people put in onion, but since I hate it, I don't!

Mix everything up in a serving bowl. Cover. Chill for several hours or overnight. Eat. mmmmmmm

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haymoni - Jul 5, 2006 7:45 am (#1990 of 2979)

Sorry, Julie, but you are going to have to do better than that if you plan to cheat.

I buy mine already made at the grocery store.

Slacker Moms Rule!!!

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Denise P. - Jul 5, 2006 7:49 am (#1991 of 2979)

Mr. Denise does the cucumbers/onions/vinegar/seasoning thing occasionally. Some of the kids like it, some don't. I personally don't like macaroni salad but I do like potato salad and pasta salad. We make a potato salad with ranch dressing and bacon that should be outlawed.

Our trip to the retirement community went well. Since I was not the one who set it up, I had no idea we were eating lunch there. Good thing I didn't have the kids eat before we got there. The residents really liked seeing the boys, and Kaitlyn, the lone Girl Scout (dragged along to plump up the numbers) got a lot of attention. She drew the number for the door prize (a flag set)

We went to a fireworks display and I have to admit to being very disappointed in the finale. Usually it goes on for several minutes and is really impressive. Kierynn had to visit the little girls bush (no bathrooms in a field!) right as the finale started and I literally blinked and missed the finale. I could hear others around us commenting on how strange and short it was as well.

Today we have rain. We also have our babysitter, Stacia, coming over this evening. Mr. Denise and I are celebrating our anniversary today. I think we are either going to a Japanese steak house (you know, where they twirl knives and toss eggs at your table) or a Mexican cantina that looks like you don't want to enter if it is dark outside but serves really good food. I have been there, he has not and I think he is tired of hearing me rave about the monster burrito they serve.

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Tazzygirl - Jul 5, 2006 8:01 am (#1992 of 2979)

Thanks, Julie A.! Hope all your gas line problems are solved quickly- and maybe they would give you a huge discount! That really stinks!

I love Macaroni salad! Also love egg salad. THe BBQ we went to yesterday had some awesome Macaroni salad.

ooooh! Denise- I love those Japanese restaurants where they flip eggs and twirl knives! Yum!!

Off to find a nail place that is open.

Have fun in Houston Ginny and Tori!

See you all back in Hawaii!

Have a fabulous RotD/N!

~Kristina

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HungarianHorntail11 - Jul 5, 2006 8:03 am (#1993 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary, Denise!

Have a safe trip back home, Kristina!

haymoni, I copied your recipe - love it!

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Thora - Jul 5, 2006 8:23 am (#1994 of 2979)

Denise, Happy Aniversary! Hope you have fun in your kid free hours. That's cute about the baptism, I didn't have to plan all that as there were 5 in my ward getting baptised on my friend's birthday. My biggest decision was who I wanted in the cirle to confirm me, and I didn't even care. I do recall that I didn't even think about who would baptise me until my father mentioned he would be doing it, lol. I guess some 8 year olds are just more interested in planning than others.

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Lilly P - Jul 5, 2006 8:31 am (#1995 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary Denise P! I love to go the Japanese restaurant where they throw stuff around, but I always get sushi, Mr. P will only eat the cooked stuff. Safe travels Tazzy! still waiting for our international friends to post some recipes on my forum! come on guys, check it out and copy Denise P's chocolate amarretto cheesecake recipe, I made it and It is to die for! Well I had better get ready to head out to the Physical Therapist, if I don't stretch out before I go, they are cranky and make me do extra exercises! only two more weeks of putting up with them! (siriusly, they are good people and my shoulder is almost back to normal. but it's hard to be nice to them when you are in pain.)

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Denise P. - Jul 5, 2006 8:31 am (#1996 of 2979)

Oh good grief, I didn't even ask her about the confirmation circle!! I don't think I will...I am just going to pick some people that she knows. I don't think she will care anyone. I sure can't remember who was in my circle but when I had it done, it was always done the last saturday of the month at the stake center and then you were confirmed the next day in your own ward.

Funny story, when we bless and name a baby, it is usually done on a newborn. The men gather in a circle and form like a platform with their hands that the baby lays on, the men facing the baby. If you peek, you can see the men generally bounce the baby gently to keep the little tyke happy and quiet (so you can hear the blessing) while they are being blessed. When my oldest two children were adopted, they were 10 and 12. We told them that we were going to have them blessed and named and they needed to pick out some really burly men to help bounce them. Hee hee, my daughter looked really alarmed until I told her we were kidding. (And usually, when someone bigger than a baby is blessed and named, they just sit on a chair).

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haymoni - Jul 5, 2006 9:29 am (#1997 of 2979)

Congrats on the anniversary! Both restaurants sound good to me!

Things are quiet at work right now. Too quiet. That usually means that the afternoon is going to explode!

Ungrateful Son has baseball practice tonight and Hubby thinks he "might" have to work, which means I will race home, shove some sort of edible something into Ungrateful Son's mouth (macaroni salad!) and cart him over to baseball with The Beautifulest One in tow, only to turn around and do it all over again 2 hours later. The Tournament starts this weekend, so maybe my suffering will end shortly.

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Solitaire - Jul 5, 2006 11:19 am (#1998 of 2979)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. Denise!

Julie, in what way is your salad a "cheat"? I don't make my own mayonnaise, for crying out loud! LOL

Here is another good summer salad:

1 package of broccoli-slaw (I use a knife and make the pieces a bit shorter.)
1/2 cup finely chopped Vidalia onion (optional, but it is great)
1 or 2 Fuji apples (my favorite), finely chopped
1 cup drained, juice-packed Dole pineapple tidbits (crushed is too runny, chunks are too big)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup (more if you like) sliced almonds or sunflower seeds (if no one is allergic)
Optional: Make this a "meal" salad by adding diced chicken breast.

Mix well and add Ken's Vidalia Onion dressing to taste. It is sweet and tangy, and I use it in coleslaw! Of course, you can use coleslaw dressing, if you prefer ... but Ken's is better!

The proportions on this salad are not critical, so it is easy to improvise with it. Sometimes I add a package of angel hair coleslaw that I've cut into slightly shorter "strands." You can add, omit, or substitute items pretty easily.

Solitaire

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Madam Pince - Jul 5, 2006 12:34 pm (#1999 of 2979)
Edited Jul 5, 2006 1:09 pm

***Thunk! Falls over in amazement that southern girls Ginny and Tori have never encountered macaroni salad before!*** It's such a staple at any big gatherings I've ever attended!

Mmmmmmm... I love Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing! It's great on spinach salad, too -- I have a good recipe with spinach and purple onion and mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and mandarin oranges and almonds with a great dressing, but if you want to be lazy then the Ken's dressing is fantastic!

Since we're sharing, here's my macaroni salad one (I made it up when I mistakenly made a double batch of the dressing for my mother-in-law's cucumber/sweet onion salad -- oops. I just threw in a little bit of practically everything in my refrigerator, and it got raves.)

Macaroni Salad
16 oz. elbows or shells, cooked/rinsed/drained
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell pepper, any color
1/4 cup chopped onion, sweet or purple
1-2 chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1-2 chopped cucumbers (absolutely necessary in my opinion!)
cheddar cheese cubes
Dressing
1 cup sour cream (can use mayo, but sc is better...)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Here's another good one -- from Hotcakes in Charlottesville. It's a lot of work but is extremely tasty and kinda exotic if you want to be fancy for some reason, plus it's good for an outdoor cookout because there's nothing in it like eggs or mayo to go bad:


Sesame Noodles
1 box DeCecco linguine (any good non-sticky brand is fine)
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 piece fresh ginger (1" diam. x 1/2" thick), minced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup soybean or peanut oil
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
Chili paste or hot oil to taste (I use just a dash of hot oil)

Cook pasta al dente and rinse. Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce. Gradually whisk in oils and add sesame seeds and chili paste. Toss with pasta, peppers, and scallions; garnish with watercress if desired. More flavorful if eaten before chilling. (If you cheat and don't use the fresh ginger and garlic, it will not be the same, so be forewarned! Voice of a slacker-who-tried-to-be-lazy talking here...)

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Solitaire - Jul 5, 2006 12:41 pm (#2000 of 2979)

Both sound wonderful, Madam P, especially the Sesame Noodles! Mmmmmmmmm!! Tell me, have you ever eaten Basque food before? A couple of the places around here--and there are several in town--serve a wonderful dish of marinated sliced tomatoes and purple onions. The dressing is amazing but, try as I might, I have not been able to duplicate it. I'll have to go and have them again ... and pay closer attention! LOL

Solitaire