Time Was Soft There

Time Was Soft There

Mercer, Jeremy

Knitting Sticks: 4

This was an interesting book. Fairly light reading but interesting. Mr. Mercer was a Canadian journalist who ran "a foul" of a source back in about 2000. He was already a tad disillusioned with his profession and when he got the threatening phone call he figured it was time to get out of Dodge. Where to go? Not much money, not much family. Hey, I know, I will go Paris! So that is what he did. He found a hotel room but didn't have much money and didn't know what to do. One day, as he was walking the streets of Paris he happened upon a bookstore, Shakespeare and Co. I am not going to take the time to describe the bookstore to you, read the book to find out. But, the amazing thing was that the owner, George Whitman, invited Jeremy Mercer to stay....at the book store...along with the half dozen or so other people who were currently residing there. The book is the story of how he came to live at the book store for several months and the people that he met there and the life lessons that he gained.

The Cookie Whisperer

Look, the Cookie Whisperer has come to our house to work her magic with cookies. I wish that you could smell the yummy smells coming from the kitchen. Of course, the cookies aren't actually for us but for the "Posse" who are coming to spend the night on Friday. I can hardly wait.

On This Day in History

Just because I haven't done one of these for a while. I give you some things that happened on May 19th

1536 Anne Boleyn is beheaded on Town Green

1780 Near total darkness descends on New England at noon. No explanation is ever given.

1964 US diplomats find at least 40 microphones planted in the newly built US Embassy in Moscow. The building was abandoned.

The Pillars of the Earth

Follett, Ken

Knitting Sticks: 5

This was an interesting and absorbing book, and really long at a whopping 973 pages. I don't normally read Ken Follett but this book was recommended by someone that I work out with so I thought I would give it a try.

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the building of a cathedral. That is the overall theme. But it also tells the story of all the major people involved in the building. The book spans almost 40 years in the 1100's. That was a violent time, full of war, famine, murder, rape, pillage and civil war. That is all reflected in the story. There were times when it was difficult to read what was happening.

I will also admit that there were times when I was a tad bored with all the detailed descriptions of what goes into building a cathedral. I persevered through those parts but they weren't too interesting to me.

Over all I liked the book but be warned that it is long. Thank goodness it wasn't populated with too many characters.

My anniversay

Today is my 23rd wedding anniversary! Hard to believe that we have been married for 23 years but it is true. It seems, in some ways, like I have always been married. Funny how that works.

I want to say right off the bat that I am married to the greatest guy in the world. You might think your hubbie has that title but I would dispute that (we can duke it out later). I will win, just letting you know that.

Marriage is a whole lot of work but the benefits are worth all the effort (get your mind out of the gutter, I wasn't talking about THOSE benefits. Well I was but not about JUST those benefits).

Dan makes me laugh a lot, he makes me angry occasionally, he is compassionate, caring, funny, smart! and cute to boot. What more could a girl ask for. I am looking forward to the next 23 years and beyond.

Happy Anniversary HHBL. You are the man for me.

Car Dieting

I paid $3.75/gallon for gas on Tuesday. On Wednesday it was up to #3.89/gallon. I still remember the days when I thought paying .50/gallon was a rip off (I sounded like an old geezer there for a moment). With the high price of gas in mind, I have begun to go on what I am referring to as a "Car diet".

I really hadn't thought about it in that way until I read this post at Cafe Mama. I know that now I think about every trip that I take in my trusty Subaru. If I can combine trips I do. I think about the flow of the trip, making my driving as efficient as possible. I don't hop in the car to run to Heinens for that one ingredient that I forgot, I substitute. I wish that it was possible to hop on my bike to do my errands but that isn't practical where I live (and I am a tad lazy in that regard). We really live a 10-20 minute drive from just about anything so I need to be organized about trips out. Organization isn't a problem for me.

I think that it is most likely a good thing that I like to be home. I never have to worry that I don't have enough things to do at home. There are never enough hours in the day to get all my stuff done. So, I am on a car diet. Trying to see how long I can go between fill-ups. Of course, there are times when I go a little further afield but I am trying to limit those.

My Weapon is finished!

Dear victim. I have finished my weapon. The socks are done and will be on their way to Bellevue, Washington tomorrow.

I have some slight guilt at killing you off but as we all know. All is fair in war and sock knitting.

I will admit to having a hard time with this pattern. This isn't the yarn that I started out with. If you had asked me on Friday night if I was having fun I would have answered with an emphatic, "NO!!!". I had ripped sock #1 out three times by 9p. I wasn't a happy camper. But the sun came out on Saturday and I soldiered on like the good warrior that I am and I finished sock #2 at 5p this afternoon. They are ready to come to your house. I hope you enjoy them.

Now if I can just hold on for a little while longer. Perhaps kill off someone else. Of course if my assassin has sent my socks in the mail then it will be all over for me.