Summer Books

Really? A year? Melody was right...I have been in the dark ages. Anyhoo...I do not read much during the school year. I have this bad habit of not putting books down, so that can make one quite tired when they then have to go teach 6 year olds. During breaks, however, I am a voracious reader. Here's what I've read so far:
1. Michael Chabon-"The Yiddish Policemen's Union"--ug. I was not a fan. The end was SO frustrating because it just, well, ended. I did learn lots of Yiddish words. Just not sure what they all mean.
2. Elizabeth Gilbert-"Eat Pray Love"-Sigh. I cried my way through vast portions. Other parts made me roll my eyes. She can be a little too new age-y for my taste, but it's a fantastic book for people going through significant life changes.
3. Khaled Hosseini-"A Thousand Splendid Sunds"-I will read everything this man ever writes. The story is about 2 Afghani women whose lives intertwine in an incredibly unfortunate way. I read this one in a night. The last 100 pages or so are traumatic. Keep tissue close by. But, whatever you do, read it.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. JK Rowling-the Harry Potter series. Holy cow. These are even better reread than on the first go through. There are so many clues and teases that you don't (or at least I didn't) catch the 1st time. One problem I've had though is that I've seen the movies since I read the books. So I'm reading and expecting something to happen and it doesn't because they'd added it to the movie for dramatic effect. Frustrating! That is why I am not going to see the new movie until after I've read the last book. I can't believe it's almost over. I feel like we should make a mix tape or something to commemorate all the good times we've had with Harry.
10. Jonathan Safran Foer-"Everything is Illuminated"-I got about 60 pages into it before deciding it was time to start HP. The jury is still out.

Another Reason I Love Nashville (and surrounding areas)

So I'm still working on my Mexican adventure post, but, in a probably vain effort to get off of Katie's critical list AGAIN, I thought I'd do a filler piece on last weekend. Which was awesome.

Last Saturday, we went to Murfreesboro to Al's house to go play disc golf. Unfortunately, the course was closed and we didn't have time to go to a different one. We've really gotta start checking out which courses are closed and when as this is the 2nd time in a row this has happened...Anyhoo...we went back to Al's and met up with Vick. Then headed over to Uncle Dave Macon Days. If you're not familiar with UDMD, it's a big bluegrass festival. They have a main stage where they have competitions, performances, etc...They also have crafts (mostly Amanda and I looked these over to see what we could make), food (yea for fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, and fried mushrooms...hm...I'm sensing a theme), and Civil War soldiers. Yes, Civil War soldiers. And period dressed women. I felt really sorry for one who was dressed all in black-not a good choice for a hot Southern afternoon. The real fun of the festival is in the area away from the stage. People mill around with their instruments and just sit down and start playing. One little band we were watching had a girl on the washboard and 3 guys playing a steel guitar, upright bass, and acoustic guitar. For their last number, the bass player wanted to switch to banjo. So they said, "Anybody play the bass?" Sure enough, a lady my mother's age said, "If it's easy!" So she bebops over to the bass which is about 3 feet taller than she is and starts playing along. It was great. We heard a few other bands playing, but that was by far the coolest moment of the day. Where else does that happen?!

My New Guilty Pleasure

So, what with it being summer and all, I have found myself staying up later and later. My summer insomnia (or as I lovingly refer to it "the big eye") has kept me awake well past midnight for about a week now. For those who know me, that is a fete as my normal bedtime during the school year averages out to about 10. Which, yes, means 9 sometimes. But I digress...I was flipping through stations one night and ran across a gem of a program called Parental Control on MTV, because heaven forbid they have a video on...even at 1 in the morning. The premise is as follows: Son/Daughter is dating a complete loser. Parents think they can find someone better. They interview replacements and choose 2 for Son/Daughter to date. Now, not only does Kid have to go on a date with someone their parent picked out, but, and here's the clincher, Parents and Loser Boyfriend/Girlfriend watch the date together. After the dates, Kid decides to either stay with Loser or date New Person. Seriously. The show is hi-LAR-ious. These people are idiots. All of them.

However, considering how right my parents were about the people I've dated, maybe it's not such a bad idea after all...

The Summer of Me

Is off to a roaring good start!!

Quick list of things I've done in the first week of break:
1. Visited family and played at the pool with the kids.
2. Read 2 books.
3. Went to the pool with Lynn and got just a touch singed.
4. Enjoyed new resteraunt, Cabana, where there was lots of good food, stout drinks, and cute boys.
5. Helped Tabi get ready for opening of store. Her boss is a former bit part actor. He bought us lunch. I've now officially had food with a celebrity.
6. Went to a book signing for Mary Kay Andrews who wrote one of the books I've read this week. Good times!
7. Saw The Break Up. B+ I ADORE Vince Vaughn and Jon Favraeu. Apart they are good, together they are divine.
8. Had breakfast with friends.
9. Bought new Al Gore book in preperation to meet him at Davis-Kidd in 2 weeks.
10. Planned a trip to the beach.
11. Planned a trip to Oregon.
12. Written on my blog twice now thereby doubling the number of posts I've had these past months!

Notice nowhere on the list are the words: slept late. There's a rather annoying bluejay who insists on flying into my bedroom window every morning around 6.30. I figure if he keeps this up he'll be dead soon, otherwise I would take more drastic measures to end this non-awesome event.

Take me off the critical list, Chadd

Yeah, yeah...I've been spending lots of time on myspace and have sadly neglected the little blog that could. After much abuse from Katie and Chadd, I have made it a goal to do a better job at writing really lame blogs.

Not today, though. I'm home and want to go to the pool...

Spring Break: Day 1

It's Spring Break!!! And I woke up at 7. :-(

I'm actually in Day 2 now, but I thoughht I would share how I wasted oxygen yesterday. I really did wake up at 7. I was very angry. However, being on the stubborn side, I managed to stay in bed until about 8.15-ish. I watched The Today Show. Usually, I watch GMA, but I was too lazy to change the channel so Today it was. I realized something. Katie Couric annoys the tar out of me. I can't really put my finger on the why, but I just don't see why everyone loves her so much. Give me Diane Sawyer any day...I finally got up and moved from my bed to the sofa. Whew. That was work. I watched a couple of shows I had faux-voed last week and made breakfast. And a full pot of coffee. Mmmm. About 10.45, the drywall guy came to patch cracks in my ceiling and he threw in a Spanish lesson for fun! I shared my coffee, excuse me, cafe, with him. After he left, I moved to the sofa in the living room (I needed a change of scenery) and finished reading David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice. Fantastic book. He is hiLARious. It's like reading a whole book of Chadd. For those not in the know, the book is a collection of short stories. My favorites were SantaLand Diaries (best line: "...it is an elf's lot to remain merry in the face of torment and adversity."), Front Row Center, and Dinah, The Christmas Whore. I'm trying hard not to give in and go to the library for another of his books. You see, I read a lot during breaks from school. Still on the list for this week are: catching up on my Bible reading, Jane Austen's collected works, The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-time, and Reading Lolita in Tehran. Ambitious, but completely possible. So I need to hold off on more Sedaris. It's tempting, though.

I pretty much diid bumpkis the rest of the day. I met Chadd, Katie, Amanda, and Dan at Rotier's for dinner. Yum! I had a Wienerburger. mmmmmmm...Oh, and I went to Tower beforehand to use the gift certificate Amanda gave me for my birthday, um, not this past one, but the one before. Prompt! Anyhoo...I got the Patty Griffin cd that was recorded live at the Ryman in 2003 (A Kiss in Time). oooh, and I just remembered it came with a dvd so I'm now going to pause to put that in...Right, so anyways, I was saying that I was at that show (and btw, who knew she had videos?? were they made especially for this dvd?) and it was fantastic. I believe (this video for "Rain" is stupid...she's a cartoon...I hope it gets better) that it was the show when the curtain caught on fire during Buddy Miller's opening act. (The video is not getitng better...Patty, ouch. Let's see if "Chief" is better.) Last time we saw her, she had new songs which makes me think a new cd is coming soon and that means another tour!! (yeah, this has real people and is better...)

Hm...well, I was going to go meet Jeremy at the Pred's game, but it was late and rainy when we were done with dinner so I went home. Rocking out with Patty all the way, of course. I got home and played TextTwist for quite some time, chatted with Melanie, and then went to bed...Very productive day. Today should be another veritable whirlwind of activity so I may need a catnap to get my energy up. ;-)

Three Things I Love:

1. Rain.
2. Jack Johnson.
3. Jack Johnson singing about rain.

I've been sitting on my couch since getting home from school. I'm trying to get Baby Emma's blanket finished as she may be entering the world shortly past 8 tonight (that's when Jenny's going to the hospital). It's raining like a mother outside and I have iTunes on random...With all my music, it has played Banana Pancakes twice. Three times if you count me just now rewinding it. Weird. I love this song, though. I like most of Jack Johnson's music. Sometimes it seems to all blend together, but good grief it's relaxing. I want to take a nap. Or make pancakes. One or the other.