Star Trek

So we finally managed to get to see the new Star Trek last night and all I can say is that J.J.Abrams is an absolute genius and this comes from a long time Trek fan. Genius I say!

Now, I will tell you that yes I love Star Trek but I don't go so far as to learn Klingon or dress like Uhura once a year or build the U.S.S. Enterprise command chair in my living room. But, I will tell you that I have seen all the original episodes more than once (or twice for that matter) and I have watched almost all of the episodes for Star Trek: The Next Generation and a fair amount of Deep Space Nine. After that my knowledge is lacking but I don't think that matters.

If you haven't seen the movie and are planning to then you might want to stop now because I am going to talk about the thing and there will be spoilers and I don't want you to get all, "Well now I can't see it because she spoiled it for me!" So you have been warned.

Parallel history, red matter, Romulans, Spock old AND young, Captain Christopher Pike. Characters that were familiar and well loved but slightly altered. I wasn't there when this movie was planned (obviously) but I would think that one of the primary thoughts in the planning was how to make a successful movie and re-energize a VERY well known and VERY well loved franchise without alienating those people who love it and at the same time bringing in a whole new generation of Trekkies. What to do?

The original actors are too old to do more Star Trek movies and besides that series has been played out in the theaters (and really only Wrath of Khan is worthy). The actors from TNG have already done all the movies that that series can sustain, the actors from Deep Space Nine, Voyager or Enterprise didn't make as big an impact all though they have their loyal followers. What to do, what to do. Then the light bulb must have gone off in someones head. Hey, lets do a "prequel" of sorts. But.... anyone who is even a moderate ST fan knows the back stories of Kirk and Spock and the other characters. To do a straight prequel wouldn't really capture the audience that they needed. Yes, it would bring in the hard core trekkies but not the newbies. Who wants a rehashing of things that are already known and besides you REALLY don't want to fall into the George Lucas prequel trap. I mean, have you seen the sweaty stinky mess that are Star Wars I, II and III!?!

The idea to change one thing in history, that changes everything else in that history without changing the essentials of the characters is brilliant. You "reboot" the series, you have characters that people know something about but you can do what you want with the characters and situations to come.

And to top it all off the movie was just plain fun. Visually appealing, action packed, with enough intermingling of established Star Trek lore and characters to make Trekkies go AHHHHH. I am sure that I will be seeing it again so that I can pick up more of the nuances of the story.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 23)

Wow, I tell you that the days just fly by. How can it be that it is time for 7 Quick Takes Friday again!

-1-

I am adjusting to being back in the "working world" and it is really an adjustment I can tell you. I don't want it to seem like this is a bad thing, it isn't. It is just that I have been, for the last 6 years, at home and so re-entering the work world even just two days a week is different. I am used to a wide open schedule and now I have to take two days out of that.

-2-

Today I seem to be all out of words, having used up most of them in writing a speech that I am giving this morning. I will tell you tomorrow what it was all about but suffice it to say I am hoping that I can get through the thing without crying. Intriguing huh. Can't say more because it is sort of a surprise for someone. Chew on that. I am not afraid of getting up and speaking but only that my words will convey what I want them to. The hubby and youngest daughter (who is an expert at public speaking) have vetted the thing and tell me that it is good.

-3-

We have been riding the highs and lows of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball for the last few weeks. I am not a huge basketball fan, baseball is my game, but I have been watching and it has been painful at times. But the thing that is so funny is my dog's reaction to basketball, or any sports for that matter. We are a vocal family, which doesn't come as a surprise to those who know us. We yell at the TV when we are watching sporting events. At first we didn't notice how Max would react to this. But over the past couple of years we have seen the same pattern whenever any sporting event is on the TV. Max, who is not a nervous or frightened dog, becomes totally unnerved. He will quietly slink off to his crate or more likely he will come and sit beside me, look at me with anxiety and shiver every once in a while. It is pathetic. He finally made me so crazy last night that I just sent him off to bed. He went reluctantly but every once and a while would return to look at me with a pleading expression as if to say, "Please, can't you just turn that off or watch something less combative like 'The Housewives of New York City'?" Pathetic.

-4-

My future son-in-law leaves today for India for a 6 month internship with Wheaton College's HNGR program. God speed Josh. We are praying for you and we love you. Do what the Lord is leading you to do in touching the lives of others. We will see you in December.

-5-

Well, it has now rained for three days straight and I think that is enough for the moment. I love rain and if the weather were up to me I would arrange it thusly. I would have it be around 75F and sunny during the day, with lovely fluffy clouds. Then it would rain at night with the occasional thunderstorm. Then once a week or so we would have a full day of rain to enjoy. But, I am not in charge of the weather so........ But at least the ground will be wet now and that will make pulling weeds much easier so I guess I shouldn't complain....even though I am.

-6-

So what do you think about President Obama's pick of Sonya Sotomayor for the Supreme Court? I am still gathering my thoughts on this one, gathering info not that what I think matters to anyone in Washington D.C. Her personal story is compelling but a that doesn't mean that she is a good pick.

-7-

Usually I have my "7 Quick takes" all taken care of before the actual day that it needs to be posted because I don't like the feeling of working under a looming deadline. I leaned the hard way that I don't like this feeling. I was always the kid in school who remembered the night before the science project was due that I had told the teacher I was growing crystals. BELIEVE ME it is really hard to do a good science project when you are trying to figure out how to grow crystals, write the report and do the oral presentation all with only 12 hours notice. But here I am trying to get these done on a Friday morning. I never seem to learn.

See you next week.

Org Porn

Well, I have never heard it put like this but I think there may be something to it.

In my morning perusal of the news I came upon a small article entitled "Are Women Addicted to 'Org Porn'?". Now first of all it was early and I had to scratch my head and ask, "what the heck is Org Porn?" OK, so don't go Googling "org porn" like I did because believe me you won't find a definition popping up on your screen. You will get other things popping up on your screen but not a definition of org porn. I think that one of the co-authors of the article said it best:

"Org porn is that glossy, airbrushed fantasy world where everything is pristine, serene and perfectly in order, sort of Playboy, but with chore charts and name-plated cubbyholes. It's everywhere you look these days: in magazines, coffee-table books, advertisements and TV shows. And when consumed in excess, it can lead to feelings of inadequacy, binge spending on organizational products, and even marital discord."

I do believe that they are on to something here, I really do. Who of us has not picked up one of those glossy magazines and been hooked. Don't try to tell me that you read Martha Stewart Living just for the articles! You know you are looking at the pictures too.

I know that I am predisposed to being addicted to "org porn" probably because I already have an organizational bent to me. I just see those magazines with those cool pictures of how I can be even more organized than I already am (and I am very organized), where I can rearrange my office or my sewing space or my scrapbooking space with stylishness and efficiency and I just want to jump up and do it. Even worse for me is the articles on the perfect landscaping or garden. I just want to get out there and rearrange all the plants into a pleasing display. Where everything is perfect and there are no weeds. And have you noticed that there are never any weeds.

I really blame Martha Stewart with all of this you know. She is sort of the Hugh Hefner of org porn, only without all the ewwww factor and the young playthings. And she is definitely better looking. But when she published that first book, Entertaining, she started something. Who wouldn't want to have the perfect touch with entertaining and decorating and gardening? All these things she seemed to do effortlessly and she said that we could too and we bought it hook, line and sinker. We were never told that she had "people". That she had minions to do her bidding and weed her garden and make the food whose glossy, appetizing pictures were displayed with the understanding that you too could produce that standing rib roast without any difficulty. Yeah right.

We have been told, as women, that we can have it all. We have been told that we can work full time, have a family at home, have a successful marriage, have loving and supportive friends. We can do all these things well. And that we should be able to do ALL of these things and be totally organized too if we just give it a little effort, if we are just a little more organized. So we strive and strive and strive and that "carrot" of total organization is always just out of reach.

Org porn is everywhere a woman might look. Go to the grocery store and get in line to pay for something and there is Martha Stewart Living magazine or Real Simple magazine or any number of other publications in the same vein. All waiting for you to pick them up and read them and be inspired to be organized in all aspects of your life. To go out and buy those items that are listed and put them in your home and all will be solved, you will be able to find those car keys and your kids rain boots and mittens without difficulty every time you look. And if you aren't organized, if your laundry room is hip deep in piles of unfolded clothes, if your sink is brimming with dishes from last night and you haven't run the dishwasher, if your house isn't picked up and organized with everything in it's own little cubby hole then what is wrong with you! Martha can do it why can't you.

I will tell you why we can't do it! Because we watch our pennies and can't go out and buy the special items. Because we come home from working and we are TIRED and the last thing that we want to do is make a gourmet meal, we just have time to get the dinner on the table before the kids start eating the furniture. Because we have more than one child (Martha only had one daughter) and they all need our attention RIGHT NOW! Because we would rather go and read our kids a book after dinner or play a game with them than organize something. BECAUSE WE HAVE A LIFE.

So, keep reading those articles and looking at the pictures but remember that it is ALL FANTASY, just like those pictures in Playboy. I bet they airbrush the weeds out of the garden shots! Your house can't look like that, can't be that organized, can't stay that perfect. There will be spills and messes and piles of things laying around for days or weeks at a time and it is OK. Now go and read a book or play with your kids and leave the organizing for another day. Believe me, it will still be there.

Memorial Day 2009

Today is Memorial Day. What will you be doing today that to honor the men and women who have paid the ultimate price to purchase our freedom? I wrote here about the history of Memorial Day.

We enjoy relative safety here in our little bubble in the United States and that is due to the men and women in our military. Never forget to thank them whenever you see them. You would be amazed at the number of times I stop to thank someone in uniform and they tell me that it is the first time that anyone has ever done that. Thank someone who has served previously.

I will be spending time today knitting on big Olive Drab socks for Socks for Soldiers. This current pair will be the 5th pair for the year and we need A LOT more.

Start You Engines!

This is really a repeat of last year's blog post. I liked it so much that I am bringing it out of blog mothballs. I have updated the starting line up so that you know.

Start You Engines!

Today is the annual running of the Indianapolis 500. I can hear you saying, "So what. It is just a car race." JUST A CAR RACE! If you can say that then you have never actually experienced the awesomeness that is the Indy 500. So, strap on your seatbelt as I give you my hommage to the greatness that is the Indianapolis 500. I don't care about any other car race but this one but I do care about this one.

It is called the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for a reason. What else could you say about a sporting event that is attended by approximately 400,000 people. The exact number of attendees isn't reported by the Speedway but there are 257,000 permanent seats and there are about another 150,000 people that are in the infield and other parts of the track.

Unless you have actually attended the race you can't imagine the excitement of the collective crowd as they wait for the race to begin. If you actually have a seat you arrive early to look for a place to park. There are lots that are open, that you can park in and walk the long walk to the speedway. The speedway itself sits in the midst of suburbia, surrounded by houses. There are also many people who earn some extra money on that day by charging a fee for you to park on their front lawn. Many who plan to sit in the infield arrive at the Speedway very early in the morning (like 2a) to get in line in anticipation of the opening of the gates. The lines of cars, trucks, RV's, motorcycles and other vehicles snake through the suburban streets. People sleep, people walk around keeping awake, people start their tailgate party early. The gates open at 5a and everyone genially files in, quickly finds a spot to park (they tell you where), gathers their stuff up and rushes to the area of the track that, if they are wise, they have already picked out in their head. Then the waiting begins.

You sit through high school marching bands and other prerace "stuff". If you are sitting anywhere by the pits then you can watch the frenetic last minute things. The cars are lined up on the track, 33 cars in eleven rows, surrounded by multitudes of people doing multitudes of last minute things. Then comes the moment when, if you are lucky, Jim Nabors sings "Back Home Again in Indiana" (he has only missed a year or two since 1971). The drivers make their last walk out to the cars. Then, what you are waiting for, the announcement, "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!" Then the breath holding moment, have all the cars started? Are there any problems? Everyone is a go. The pace car is out on the track. The sound is tremendous. The pace car pulls out and the cars follow, weaving back and forth to heat up their tires (better traction). The cars zoom past at just under 100mph, staying in a rough approximation of the rows. Will this be the lap where the pace car pulls off. No. They go around one more time, the cars streaking past in a blur. How can they possibly go any faster (but THEY CAN!). Finally, the roar of the crowd swells as the pace car comes out of the fourth turn and pulls to the left down into the pits. You look down the track and the green flag is being waved and the race is on.

If you thought that the cars were going fast before and that the sound of the engines was deafening then you were wrong. The pace car is gone, the green flag is out and it is "horses out of the gate". The roar of the crowd (remember this is 400,000 people) is absolutely drowned out by the roar of the car engines as they jump to get out ahead of all the other cars. The cars pass so fast that you can barely see them before they are on down the track.

Then comes the hours of cars going around and around, positions changing, cars giving out, people dropping out. I will be honest, I know that there are plenty of people that are hoping for a crash. When those happen it is spectacular to say the least. I only remember one crash that happened in front of us but I do remember it clearly. Fire, smoke, pieces of car hurtling everywhere and then momentary silence of the crowd as they wait to see if the driver emerges unscathed (he did not).

The race finally ends, after 500 miles (that is 200 laps around the 2.5 mile track) and many hours. We all hope for a close finish but a safe one. Then it is the long trek back to your car, whether you are parked in the infield or outside. Everyone is tired, hot, sometimes wet if there has been rain, but all are full of the fun that they have had at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

So, lets give a great "drive safe and fast" to the men and women who are driving in this year's Indy 500. In order of position they are

Helio Castroneves(winner 2001 & 2002), Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti(2007 winner)
Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon (2008 winner), Tony Kanaan
Mario Moraes, Marco Andretti, Will Power
Danica Patrick, Alex Lloyd, Raphael Matos
Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira, Justin Wilson
Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter, Dan Wheldon (2005 Winner)
A.J.Foyt IV, Scott Sharp, Sarah Fisher
Davey Hamilton, Robert Doombos, Townsend Bell
Orio Sevia, Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway
John Andretti, E.J.Viso, Milka Duno
Nelson Philippe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alex Tagliani

Ladies and Gentlement........START YOUR ENGINES!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 22) The Graduation Addition

Well, I missed last week because I was in New York City to attend the graduation of the oldest progeny. She is now the proud (but poor) owner of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts. Below are my "7 Quick Takes" pictures from that fun occasion.

-1-
This is an art school and so there was a great deal of "visual" stuff going on. Before the ceremonies kicked off the HUGE screen was full of pictures of graduating seniors. And then, as an introduction to each graduating group there was a video montage of interviews and completed senior works. Pretty interesting stuff. Trust me, it was WAAAAAAY better than the commencement speaker, biographer Robert Caro, who was there to flog his current book and get some digs in at George W. Bush. Thank goodness I had my knitting with me.

-2-

Trust my daughter and her good friends, Hanni and Kacie, to put their own "spin" on their excitement at actually graduating. They made sure that they were lined up together and then when all three had received their "diplomas" (actually just rolled up pieces of paper telling them that they had to pick up the pigskin later) they took a well deserved bow. Everyone loved it.

-3-
What better way to celebrate than with a good glass of wine (or in the case of the nieces a particularly fine glass of Coke) and some excellent food. BIL Bjorn grilled shrimp, salmon AND lamb and they were all excellent.

-4-
The nieces did an awe inspiring job decorating the graduation cake. I wasn't aware that you could put that much colored sugar and sprinkles on anything and not go straight into a diabetic coma.

-5-
Oh who will hire me? I need a job! I am a hard worker. I am VERY frugal (the kid could make a penny squeak). I meet my deadlines. Hire me QUICK!

-6-
This is the view from the terrace at my SIL's condo. I could live with this view let me tell you. There is an equally stunning view from the other side of the patio. If you turn a shade to the right from this picture it looks like you can reach out and touch the Chrysler Building.

-7-
The oldest progeny and I. I am the one with the gray hair just in case you were wondering. Ashley, we are so proud of you and all the work that you have put in over the last four years. You are an exceptional artist with your own unique "voice" and we can hardly wait to see what you do out in the big world.

Cat Yodeling

Oh man I love these videos. It makes me miss my Zachy boy.

Happy Anniversary!!!

This is just a public declaration of Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband. Yes, 24 years ago today we looked like this:
All happy and excited to start our new life together........with absolutely nothing in common, no good communication skills in place and no earthly idea of what we were doing. The first several years were rough. And lest you think I am talking "out of turn" here, my sweet hubby would tell you exactly the same thing. Those first couple of years were tough, REALLY tough. It wasn't until we each, independent of each other, got down on our knees and asked the Lord to change our hearts that things started to change. It was a slow process but change did come!

So, this is us today with our oldest progeny, the new college graduate.
My sweet hubby is my best friend. He makes me laugh, he makes me mad (but not very often), he makes me want to be the best that I can be at whatever I am doing. He looks out for me, sets me straight when I am out of line (not that I ever am you know), he puts up with my craziness and I just can't do without him.

I love you honey! You are my HHBL.

Be careful to treat your waitress nicely the next time you go to Waffle House

Waitress shoots Waffle House customer over food dispute

And where did these people learn grammar? Or didn't as the case may be.

Sorry

So sorry that there is light posting this week. There won't even be a 7 Quick Takes as we will be busy with various family matters and family parties and all things family. I will be back I promise

Enthusiasm II

Oh to have the enthusiasm for worship that the young fellow who sits in front of us does. He is a young man with Down's Syndrome and his joy and participation in worship is always sky high.

This young fellow is everyone's friend. He has a smile for all or a handshake or a hug. And when the music and singing starts he is a total participant in worship. When I say total I mean not just singing but bodily. He has his hands raised or is playing his own set of "air drums" on the back of the pew in front of him, or is clapping his hands. A total body experience.

And when we listen to the sermon he has his arm around his dad's shoulder, rubbing his back and smiling at him on occasion or putting his head on his dad's shoulder. Wonderful.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day Mom (Mimi). You are the BESTEST mom in the world (BAP!)

Morning Walk

I love to walk my neighborhood, as I have mentioned before. Mornings like this are especially excellent because:

• the air was cool and misty and the sky was overcast with clouds that I think will bring rain
• saw one of the neighborhood hawks gliding from one side of the street to the other
• saw the bluebirds this morning. They are always so cheery
• the smell of all the blooming trees and shrubs. The dogwood, tea viburnum, lilacs (though not many of those as we have alot of shade around here)
• the smell of someone doing laundry or more likely the dryer running
• the smell of the damp earth.
• a good book on tape. I am currently listening to "An Old Fashioned Girl" by Louisa M. Alcott which I downloaded from Librivox. If you like books on tape and you are cheap, I mean frugal, like me then you should check the site out.
  

7 Quick Takes (Vol 21) The Mother's Day Addition

Well, in honor of Mother's Day I thought I would do a "Mother's Day Addition" this week. I bet I won't be the only one.

-1-

My mom is the greatest mom in the world, let's get that down right now. You may disagree, and that is your right, but you would be wrong. Now, this doesn't mean that Mom and I don't have our little disagreements, what mom and daughter don't. But she is still the greatest mom in the world.
Mom came out and stayed with us for almost two weeks to take care of me after the surgery. She cleaned, cooked, carted me around, let the dog out ten thousand times a day. We couldn't have done it without her.

-2-

Being a mom is a great thing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have to admit that I really didn't think I wanted children at one point. I hated babysitting when I was growing up, I didn't like other people's children and figured that maybe that was God's way of telling me that I shouldn't have any of my own. But then I got married and I knew, I just knew with certainty that I wanted children and soon. Our oldest was born 18 months after our wedding and we never looked back.

-3-

Things my mother taught me:

• Look at life with humor
• The Lord is my savior and loves me no matter what
  
• Always cook WAY more food than you think you might need when having company
• Pickles are good
• how to make a bed quickly and efficiently
• how to make a pie. That may not seem like much but it is a great skill to have let me tell you.
• liver is my enemy. Yes Mom, I know YOU love liver but the rest of us know the truth.
• anything can be made into a collection....even pine cones.
• hard work is good for what ails you. Especially hard work outside in the garden.
• it is very strange to have your mother be on Facebook. Of course, my kids may feel the same way about me being on FB. Now if she starts to "Twitter" then the world, as we know it, may end.
  

-4-

Over the 23 (24 this month) years of my marriage I have come to appreciate my two mothers-in-law. Two you say, how can you have two mothers-in-law? Well, my husbands parents are divorced and both are remarried. These two women couldn't be more different but they are both precious to me. My MIL (mother-in-law) is a person of strong character and decided opinions. She was very intimidating at first but I have come to enjoy and appreciate her take on life and her giving spirit. My SMIL (step mother-in-law) is just plain fun. I enjoy spending time with both of them. In fact I will see both of them next week when the oldest grandchild (our oldest daughter) graduates from college....with honors I might add.

-5-

Being a mom is hard and don't ever let anyone tell you different. I am still waiting for the manual to come in the mail as I seem to have misplaced the original that they must have given me at the hospital 22 years ago. However, for all of the hardness of being a mom (I understand why gerbils eat their young) the rewards and benefits far outweigh all the other "stuff".

-6-

Things that I have learned from my children

• Frogs are able to live for a VERY long time in a box in the closet
• Hearing your children laughing together is the best thing in the world
• Jimmy Hoffa may not be buried under all that stuff on the floor....but we aren't exactly sure about that since we haven't actually seen the floor in that room for YEARS
  
• Even when they are in their 20's, if they call you "Mommy" then your heart just melts.
• anything from the refrigerator can be made into a snack, even crackers topped with deli turkey, melted cheese and dill pickles.
• that teenagers + 2 week driving trips up the West Coast are sometimes not the best idea. They can turn out to be fun but........

-7-

It's Mother's Day EVERY DAY. Well, not really but I was stuck for a #7 and that is what came to mind.

See you next week.

I am just thinkning

I am just thinking (which is ALWAYS a scary thought) that if I was a lawyer and the Obama administration wanted my help, or wanted to employ me for any reason, or even wanted my opinion on anything I would say NO as Andy McCarthy did recently. His arguments are well worth reading. It seems to me, in my small "housewifey" brain, that the lawyers from the Bush administration gave their opinions on things like the interrogation memos in good faith, because the administration that they worked for asked for that. Who wants to now work for an administration or government that will turn around and smear and threaten prosecute for people who gave their honest opinion just because the current administration doesn't agree.

I would run the other way if I was a lawyer and the Obama Administration came to me and asked if I would serve in the Justice Dept. Perhaps that is why there are still a tremendous number of vacancies in that dept. that need to be filled. Of course now I can't find the article that I just read detailing the number of vacancies. If I find it I will edit this post but just know that it is somewhere in the blogosphere. Would you want to work for someone that you couldn't trust to "have your back"? Someone who at some later point might hang you out to dry if it was politically expedient? No thanks.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 20)

Man these weeks do fly by! How can it possibly be May 1st and Quick takes Friday all at once.

-1-

Having dinner with good friends is one of the great pleasures of life. We had dinner with Bill and Vicky last night and it was great. Dan and I had both been at the office all day (which is a long day for me) and we figured that we would spend a couple of hours at Bill and Vicky's house and then go home. Well, the first time I really looked at my watch we had already been there 3 hours! And then it was another hour before we walked out the door to drive home. The time just flew by but that is what happens when you are with people you really like.

-2-

OK, enough with the rain already. It makes for less than pleasant gardening and it makes the weeds grow faster and I think we should take a break from it for a few days. At least until I can get out and get the rest of the Spring clean up done. I just need about 48 hours to pull weeds and spray deer repellent. Ah the joys of Spring.

-3-

So, how concerned are you about Swine Flu? First let me say that if I was wishing to be "PC" about it I would be calling the the H1N1 flu so as not to offend the Pork Producers lobby or lead anyone to the erroneous thought that you can get this from pigs. But we all know that I try to avoid being PC at all costs to it is going to be Swine Flu for me. So, are you avoiding places with large crowds of people? Are you looking suspiciously at anyone who coughs or sneezes or who is glassy eyed with fever? Are you taking our beloved VP, Joe Biden's, advice and staying away from planes, buses and subways? ( Don't you just love when Biden opens his mouth and says these really stupid things that the White House then has to scramble to take care of). Or do you think that there isn't as much reason to panic as the main stream media would like us to believe.

-4-

Why are weddings so expensive? We have started talking with Meg about how much we can spend for this wedding and already my head hurts. And we have two more daughters in the pipeline. How about plane tickets to Las Vegas? That didn't fly so I guess it is traditional wedding.

-5-

Tonight we are going to another performance of "Beauty and the Beast" at my daughter's high school. Last Friday was opening night and it was fabulous! These kids spend months practicing and prepping and the end product was awesome. Of course, since we have a daughter in the production we might be a tad biased.

-6-

Well, the doctor has said that I can officially go off all supplemental iron. Yipee!!! With all the rain we have been having I was afraid that I was going to rust. Now if we can just get the hormone issues taken care of. It isn't that what she has prescribed me isn't working, it is that it is so expensive. $50 for 30 little pills!!! I don't think so. There is another drug that I can get that is generic and MUCH cheaper so that is what I am going to ask her to prescribe. Yikes!

-7-

My exercise mojo seems to have taken a holiday today. It is dreary and rainy outside and I really don't want to go and walk on the treadmill.....but I will....I guess. I would much rather walk outside but that might not be too comfortable considering the rain that is falling at the moment. Oh I so want to go back to bed right now, or read a book, or do some knitting. Anything but pounding out two miles in the neighborhood or in the basement. Sigh.

See you next week.