HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOM AND TEDDY

Today is Dom's 69th birthday. I thought I'd show you a few pictures of him in his younger years.


Dom used to play sax in a band many years ago. That's him, all the way on the left.


And what a great build he had. He's the one on the bottom, carrying his friend. I don't think he could carry a sack of potatoes on his shoulders now.


Dom and I "eloped" and never had a fancy wedding. So on our 7th anniversary, we renewed our vows in church. That's Donna on the left and Susan on the right.


This is the only formal picture we've ever had taken of the 2 of us. This was done around 15 years or more ago.


And here's a recent picture of Dom with his 2 best buddies, Teddy and Maggie. It looks like Teddy is singing Happy Birthday to Dom!


And speaking of Teddy, today is his 7th birthday. We're very lucky to have him around - he has a serious heart problem that was diagnosed about 3 1/2 years ago. His cardiologist didn't think he's live more than 6 months.

He's such a sweet dog - if only he'd stop barking! For the first few months we had him, he never barked. Then one day, he realized he could - and he hasn't stopped yet!

So I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my two favorite guys!

A NEW AWARD

Thanks, DesertRose, for this award!

GARAGE SALE - DONE

Our neighborhood garage sale was yesterday and today. I put stuff out early this morning. I had a table with clothes, a lawn mower, seed spreader, girl's bike, TV, bread machine, lamps, and boxes and boxes of books.

I made $100 dollars, which isn't a lot, but I had priced things really low so that they would sell. I did manage to get rid of the big items, but guess what didn't sell well at all? Books! Surprised me!

I took everything that was left to Goodwill - except the books. I'm planning to take them to the library later this week. So now we have more room in the garage, the closets aren't as crowded, and my bookshelves have a bunch of empty spots. But you know I'll be working to fill those spaces as quickly as possible!

A FULL MAILBOX AND A FULL DAY

I hit the jackpot yesterday. Martha, my friendly mail-person, brought me a couple of boxes full of books. Here's what came in those boxes:

NINTH WITNESS (Bodie & Brock Thoene) - part of the AD Chronicles
THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY (Tiffany Baker)
ANNIE FREEMAN'S FABULOUS TRAVELING FUNERAL (Kris Radish)
FLIGHT LESSONS (Patricia Gaffney)
HOW TO BE LOST (Amanda Eyreward)
ON MYSTIC LAKE (Kristin Hannah)
THE HELP (Kathryn Stockett)
THE BRASS VERDICT (Michael Connelly)

A little later in the day, the dogs were going crazy, barking at a Fed Ex truck parked outside. The man got out with a package and went to my neighbor's house across the street. Then he came up my driveway and started to slap a "you weren't home when I came here" notice on my door. I quickly opened the door to let him know that I was here - then he went to the truck to get my package. (Why didn't he bring it the first time instead of having a notice ready?)

Inside the package was - a new laptop! Shelby's laptop died a couple of weeks ago, and since she wants to take some online college classes, she's going to need one. So, being the good grandmom that I am (!), I bought a new one. Except I'm keeping the new one and giving her mine, which is still only about 9 months old and in perfect condition. I spent most of yesterday afternoon transferring stuff from one to the other. Thank you to the genius who invented those little USB flash drives - you've made things so much easier! Now I just need to delete a few programs on the old one and it will be as good as new for Shelby.

Our neighborhood is having yard sales today and tomorrow. I can't do today, but I have a stack of stuff for tomorrow. Right now, I have about 150 books to put out (don't worry - my bookcases are still pretty full!) along with a bunch of T-shirts, shorts and dresses that I can't wear any more. Dom wants to sell a lawn mower and 2 bikes plus some old clothes of his. I need to find a few boxes in which to put the books, plus get to the bank for some $1 and $5 bills and a couple rolls of quarters. I'm going to put all the stuff into the garage tonight when Dom is home to help me so I'll have it all ready for 8:00 am tomorrow.

We've been having problems with our phone service (Vonage) ever since we switched from cable to AT&T U-Verse. I think there must be a loose connection somewhere - I keep losing calls and/or I have a poor phone connection, and when that happens, the TV goes off too. So I'm having an AT&T technician come this afternoon to check it all out. I also need him to show me how to program the remote so that the TV and the service box go on and off at the same time. When I put in the new TV, I messed the remote up somehow. Since I'm giving Dom a new TV for the bedroom on Sunday, I want to be sure I can program the remote correctly.

So, I've had a full mailbox (and more books expected today) and a full day planned. What's going on at your house?

UNREAD?

Today's question is a good one, suggested by C in DC:

Is there a book you wish you could "unread?" One that you disliked so thoroughly you wish you could just forget that you ever read it?

YES! A book I hated so much that I threw it against the wall, leaving a mark that had to be repainted, when I finished it. A book with an ending that made the entire book a farce. My favorite "hated" book - THE LAST TIME THEY MET by Anita Shreve.

There have been other books I've disliked and felt I had wasted time reading them, but this one takes the cake! I read it with an online reading group and it was spread out over a month's time. So instead of wasting just a day or so, I wasted a month's worth of precious reading time. I've read other books by Ms. Shreve, but I'm always hesitant when I pick up one of her books.

Stop over here for more "wish they were unread" books.

SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET

SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET by Debbie Macomber was read for the Pub 2009 Challenge.

From the book jacket:

Knitting and life. They're both about beginnings - and endings. That's why it makes sense for Lydia Goetz, owner of A Good Yarn on Seattle's Blossom Street, to offer a class called Knit to Quit. It's for people who want to quit something - or someone! - and start a new phase of their lives.

First to join is Phoebe Rylander. She recently ended her engagement to a man who doesn't know the meaning of faithful, and she's trying to get over him. Then there's Alix Turner. She and her husband, Jordan, want a baby, which means she has to quit smoking. And Bryan Hutchinson joins the class because he needs a way to deal with the stress of running his family's business - not to mention the lawsuit brought against him by an unscrupulous lawyer.

Life can be as complicated as a knitting pattern. Just ask Anne Marie Roche. She and her adopted daughter, Ellen, finally have the happiness they wished for. And then a stranger comes to her bookstore asking questions.

Or ask Lydia herself. Not only is she coping with her increasingly frail mother, but she and Brad have unexpectedly become foster parents to an angry, defiant twelve-year-old.

But as Lydia already knows, when life gets difficult and your stitches are snarled, your friends can always help!

I love reading a book by Debbie Macomber. It's like seeing old friends again, and making some new ones. And knowing that, despite a set-back or two, everything is going to work out right at the end.

Sure, the Blossom Street books are light and fun, not deep reading. But summer is a good time for feel good books. Happy books. And that's just the type of book I was looking for now. I know I can pick up a book by Ms. Macomber and spend a few hours feeling good and being entertained. I have enough drama in my own life - I need to read a book that will take me away from it all. And Ms. Macomber always delivers.

WHEN OUR GROWN KIDS DISAPPOINT US

WHEN OUR GROWN KIDS DISAPPOINT US by Jane Adams, Ph.D. was read for the New Authors Challenge and the Non-Fiction Five Challenge.

From the book jacket:

How do today's parents cope when the dreams we had for our children clash with reality? What an we do for our twenty - and even thirty-somethings who can't seem to grow up? How can we help our depressed, dependent, or addicted adult children, the ones who can't get their lives started, who are just marking time or even doing it? What's the right strategy when our smart, capable "adultolescents" won't leave home or come boomeranging back? Who can we turn to when the kids aren't all right and we, their parents, are frightened, frustrated, resentful, embarrassed, and especially, disappointed?

In this groundbreaking book, a social psychologist who's been chronicling the lives of American families for over two decades confronts our deepest concerns, including our silence and self-imposed sense of isolation, when our grown kids have failed to thrive. She listens to a generation that "did everything right" and expected its children to grow into happy, healthy, successful adults. But they haven't, at least, not yet - and meanwhile, we're letting their problems threaten our health, marriages, security, freedom, careers or retirement, and other family relationships.

With warmth, empathy, and perspective, Dr. Adams offers a positive, life-affirming message to parents who are still trying to "fix" their adult children - Stop! She shows us how to separate from their problems without separating from the, and how to be a positive force in their lives while getting on with our own. As we navigate this critical passage in our second adulthood and their first, the bestselling author of I'M STILL YOUR MOTHER reminds us that the pleasures and possibilities of postparenthood should not depend on how our kids turn out, but on how we do!

We have three adult children. Each one has, at some time or another, disappointed us in a minor or major way. But I realize that these disappointments were not their fault - they were ours. Our children did not turn out the way we expected them to, they did not live their lives the way we wanted them to - they each did their own thing and it was different from our dreams for them. And that's OK. We are learning how to say no when they have problems and that's it's all right to do that.

This book affirms my belief that parents can help their adult children, but must put limits on that help. That doing everything for them and making all the decisions for them only hurts the children - and the parents - in the long run. As parents, we have to learn not to take on our children's problems as our own. It's hard to let go. Here's a quote from the book that spoke volumes to me:

It may be difficult to know whether our kids are just going through a stage they'll grow up and grow out of - some day. But if and when they do, or even if they don't, the shape their lives will take and the choices they make are up to them, not us. (emphasis added) What's up to us is coming to terms with the choices we've made, and are making, in our own lives.

If you have adult children and are having trouble accepting their decisions and feel that you must step in and solve their problems, this book might help you see that in the long run you are doing more harm than good - and help you allay the guilt when you say no.

MISS JULIA PAINTS THE TOWN

MISS JULIA PAINTS THE TOWN by Ann B. Ross was read for the Southern Reading Challenge.

From the back of the book:

The sleepy town of Abbotsville is abuzz over a developer's plans to replace the old courthouse with luxury retirement condos. On top of that, several of the town's husbands seem to have flown the coop. As usual, it falls to Miss Julia to save the day - and the courthouse - even if she has to pretend that Brother Vern and Thurlow Jones are the town's leading citizens in the process. Marriages, divorces, fraud charges, and reconciliations all play out against a backdrop of Miss Julia's struggles to save the historic courthouse, her own marriage, and her sanity. This time, Miss Julia scales new heights to get her prized treasure and finds herself in a position she never dreamed possible.

This is the ninth Miss Julia book I've read - and this is a series that has kept my interest from the beginning. Miss Julia is the epitome of Southern charm and decorum, yet she manages to get herself into the most unusual circumstances. The supporting characters are as much fun as Miss Julia is herself.

There's a new Miss Julia book out right now in hardcover, but since I have the series in trade paperback, I'll wait until next year to read that one. Miss Julia is worth the wait.

MY EXCITING SUNDAY

Wash sheets and change the bed linens

Give both dogs a bath

Sit and read while Dom watches the Indy 500

Sounds like a good plan to me. What are you doing today?

TEACHER MAN

TEACHER MAN by Frank McCourt was read for the Read Your Own Books Challenge, the What's in a Name 2 Challenge (profession), Every Month is a Holiday Challenge (National Teacher Day), and the Non-Fiction Five Challenge.

From the book jacket:

Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with ANGELA'S ASHES, the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'TIS, the glorious account of his early years in New York.

Now, here at last is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. TEACHER MAN is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write "An Excuse Note From Adam or Eve to God"), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics) and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!).

McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. TEACHER MAN shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods a day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in TEACHER MAN the journey to redemption - and literary fame - is an exhilarating adventure.

I loved this book! How I wish I had had teachers like Mr. McCourt when I was in school. I wonder if his former pupils realize what they had. His methods of teaching were unusual. If he didn't know the answer to something, he would admit it. Imagine, a teacher saying "I don't know." Maybe he didn't teach diagramming a sentence (he couldn't do it himself), but he still managed to teach his students sentence structure. He opened his pupils' eyes to the world around them, allowing them to see a story in everyday things.

I read recently that Mr. McCourt is battling melanoma. My thoughts are with him and his family.

JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY

I like Wednesdays. We bowl in the afternoon. And we eat candy and pizza! Our team is named Good 'n Plenty - we manage to eat about 2 large boxes of them each week. The pizza is a special thing. If our team can bowl all strikes in one frame, we win a free pizza. And today - we ate pizza!

I found out this morning that the Mama Panda at the Washington DC Zoo will not be having a baby cub this year. Pandas don't have an easy time getting pregnant - they're only fertile for about a day or two each year. And it's very difficult to tell if a female is pregnant. Even if not pregnant, they go through pseudo-pregnancies and show all the same signs as if they were pregnant - sleeping a lot, eating much less, nest building. Poor Mei Xiang - she seemed so uncomfortable and now they've confirmed that there will be no baby this year. I need to get down to the Atlanta Zoo for a baby panda fix!

Dom and I are taking Shelby to Cracker Barrel tomorrow morning for breakfast. Dom has to work in the afternoon, so I might take Miss Shelby shopping. I just got her a crockpot and I want to find an easy cookbook for her.

Nothing else exciting around here. But that's OK - much better than problems and crises!

THE 8TH CONFESSION

THE 8TH CONFESSION by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro was read for the Pub 2009 Challenge and the Read Your Name Challenge.

From the book jacket:

As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching - waiting for the chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home.

As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile murder, someone else is found brutally executed - a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless. His death nearly falls through the cracks, but when reporter Cindy Thomas hears about it, she knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been quite as saintly as everyone thought.

As the hunt for two criminals tests the limits of the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay sees sparks fly between Cindy and Lindsay's partner, Detective Rich Conklin. The Women's Murder Club now faces its toughest challenge: will love destroy all that four friends have built? The exhilarating new chapter in the Women's Murder Club series, THE 8TH CONFESSION serves up a double does of speed-charged twists and shocking revelations as only James Patterson can....

I've read all the books in this series so far. They're fairly interesting, full of action, but there are a few things that bother me about these books. They usually center around a couple of murders, but these murders aren't related except for the fact that Lindsay is investigating both. I keep looking for some connection between the two plot lines, but there's really none there. This one managed to pull a little of the subplots and characters together, but it still seemed like separate books.

The other thing that really bothers me is that Ms. Paetro gets almost no recognition at all. Look at the cover of the book - her name is in little print below Mr. Patterson's name. Read the last sentence of the book blurb above - she isn't even mentioned. On the back jacket flap, there is a big paragraph about Mr. Patterson but this is the entire mention of Ms. Paetro: "Maxine Paetro is a novelist and journalist. She lives with her husband in New York." Come on, give the lady some credit. Of the 8 books in this series, Mr. Patterson has only written one - the first - by himself. Two were co-authored by Andrew Gross and five by Ms. Paetro.

I keep telling myself I'm not going to read any more in this series. Hopefully I'll stick to my guns next year when #9 comes out.

Oh, one more thing about this book - it has those slimy reptiles with no legs in it. Yuck!

GIRLS IN TRUCKS

GIRLS IN TRUCKS by Katie Crouch was read for the New Authors Challenge and the Southern Reading Challenge.

From the back of the book:

Never chase men or buses. Don't let yourself be seen in a truck in town. These are the simple rules passed down through generations of Camellias, one of the oldest debutante societies in Charleston. Sarah Walters is a member of this antiquated club - whether she likes it or not. The society is a privilege one is born to, and it offers rules of etiquette meant to prepare a girl for a charmed life with an appropriate husband. The only problem is, Sarah has a tendency to make life choices that are anything but polite. With biting humor and keen observation, Katie Crouch takes Sarah from a sweaty-palmed eighth grader at Cotillion dancing lessons to a slightly numb thirty-five-year-old living in New York City. It takes a strange turn of events to make Sarah realize that as much as she tries to deny it, where she comes from will always affect where she ends up.

I'm not having much luck this month picking books. I'll read the back of a book or the book jacket flap and think - this sounds like a really good book. But then, when I get into the book, I find it's completely different from what I expected it to be.

I thought this book would be a light-handed story of a Southern girl, taken out of her natural habitat and put into the big city like a fish out of water. I didn't expect a story of a girl who couldn't wait to get away from the South and who lost just about all aspects of her Southern heritage. I wasn't expecting all the loose sex, drinking and drugs. I guess I'm naive when it comes to how people live now. I certainly hope this isn't how most young women live.

This was a relatively short book so I had no problem finishing it, but it certainly doesn't rank up there with my favorite books. I didn't like any of the characters and really didn't give a rat's behind what happened to any of them.

I need to find a good book soon before this month is a complete bust.

HANDLE WITH CARE

HANDLE WITH CARE by Jodi Picoult was read for the 9 Books in 2009 Challenge (long), Pub 2009 Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge (birthday May 19), and the Chunkster Challenge.

From the book jacket:

Things break all the time. Day breaks, waves break, voices break. Promises break. Hearts break.

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.

Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte should have known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?

Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, HANDLE WITH CARE brings us into the heart of a family bound by an incredible burden, a desperate will to keep their ties from breaking, and , ultimately, a powerful capacity for love. With the grace and wisdom she's become famous for, this novel by beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult offers us an unforgettable story about the fragility of life and the lengths we will go to protect it.

Ms. Picoult is one of my favorite authors. With the exception of one book, I have loved everything she has written. She tackles difficult issues and shows us different viewpoints of the problems. This book follows her pattern, complete with the relatively unexpected ending.

The story involves a medical malpractice case resulting in a wrongful birth. I don't think I have ever heard of the legal term wrongful birth. I could understand the basis for the malpractice suit, but it seemed a little far-fetched that the case was not filed until more than 5 years after the birth. The parents had a good case for malpractice, but that would have been a boring book. Ms. Picoult added the "wrongful birth" aspect to give the story more depth and emotion.

I'm on the fence about this one. The story needed the conflict between the family members and the best friend/doctor for the emotional pull, but the "wrongful birth" aspect of the case just didn't ring true for me. There was also a side story concerning the lawyer and her search for her birth mother that seemed out of place.

In my opinion, not Ms. Picoult's worst book, but not her best.

Thanks to Joanne from Jo-Jo Loves to Read!!! for lending me this book.

I NEED TO GET BACK TO NORMAL

May so far has been a terrible reading month for me. I have only finished one book. In a typical month, I would have finished at least 5 books by now.

I wasted almost 2 weeks struggling through THE HISTORIAN before I finally put it away. I started LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave, but I'm putting that one away also. It's a library book and it's due back in a day or so and can't be renewed. I know I won't finish it in time. The book's just not grabbing me so I'm going to return it - maybe I'll try it again later.

This cold of mine has sapped my energy and I just don't seem to be able to stay away enough to read. Hopefully as I start feeling better, I'll get back into the reading routine.

Joanne at Jo-Jo Loves to Read!!! was kind enough to lend me her copy of HANDLE WITH CARE by Jodi Picoult. I know I can get involved with that one, so I'm going to start it today. Maybe, once I get into a really good book, it will all come back for me.

I'm so ready to get this cold out of my system. My head is still a little congested and I still have a wicked cough, but I do feel a little more energetic. I haven't had a bad cold - or any cold for that matter - in years. I realize now that it takes a lot longer to get better as I've gotten older. Not fun!

On an unrelated subject, I finally got the baker's racks in the living room set up just the way I want them. It took a little bit of tweaking and moving things around, but I think they look nice and balanced now.


The bathroom mirrors are done, the living room is done - next, the transom for the archway between the living room and kitchen. I'm really looking forward to that one!

OH NO!

Just when I started feeling better,
Dom has caught "the cold."

Now before you start feeling sorry for him, let me tell you what he's like when he's sick.

He moans, he groans. He insists he can do something, then suddenly realizes that he can't and needs my help. I'm not talking big things - I'm talking about moving a pillow from one side of the bed to the other or pulling up a blanket. Getting a drink of water when the glass is sitting on the nightstand right next to the bed. Walking to the bathroom.

If I'm in the room with him and ask him if he needs anything, the answer is always no. But let me sit down in another room with a book or the computer, and all at once he's calling for me. Calling in a little voice that I can hardly hear, so I need to get up and go running into the bedroom to see what he needs. And it's usually something that is in the room I just left.

Once, years ago, Dom was in bed with a bad back. We lived in a split-level home and I was usually on the lowest level with our girls. He had a toy phone by his side and he would ring the bell on the phone when he wanted me. For the first couple of times, this would work well. But after numerous "rings" for simple things that he could do for himself, I blew up and grabbed that cursed phone and threw it in the trash! Now I know that wasn't very nice of me, but when forced to choose between 2 toddlers getting into who-knows-what when I would have to leave them alone and a husband who couldn't reach the TV remote that was on the bed not six inches from his hand - well, I think you get the picture.

I tried not to be a bother when this wicked cold hit. I still managed to make meals, wash the dishes, do the laundry, feed the dogs, take out the trash, bring in the mail, and even sleep on a couch in the office at night so I wouldn't keep him awake with my coughing. I'm not looking forward to the next few days.

FINALLY FEELING BETTER

After a couple of days of stuffy head, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, headache and no sleep, I think I'm finally starting to feel better. But I still have no sense of smell or taste - eating anything at all is just like eating cardboard.

I'm doing something I haven't done in years and years - I'm giving up on a book. I've been struggling with THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova for almost 2 weeks now and I just can't keep with it. For me, the book is boring and I don't care at all about the characters and what happens to them. I was only keeping with the book because it was scheduled for a few challenges. But reading back on the challenges' guidelines, I see that I'm not locked into my original lists so this book is gone. I have another stack of books that look far more interesting.

I need to do a few tweaks to my new baker's racks and I'll be satisfied with them. In the office, I need to move out one of the 5 bookcases. I was setting Dom's college diploma, which was mounted on a piece of heavy wood, on top of the bookcase and it dropped behind it, knocking a plug out of an outlet. So I need to pull the bookcase to fix that situation. Then this afternoon, I'll be going with Dom to a doctor's appointment.

That's my thrilling day. What exciting things do you have planned for today?

SECOND BIG CHANGE

I sold my entertainment center today and put up the new baker's racks. I also moved the bookcase that had been next to the entertainment center into the office. I now have 5 bookcases along one wall - they fill the entire wall. When I moved all the books from the living room and from each bookcase as I had to move it, I was able to weed out a lot of books that I'll try to sell at a garage sale. What doesn't sell will be donated to the library.

So today I went from this:

to this:

I'm happy!

WEIRD ... BUT IT WORKS

I have a terrible cold so my daughter (who works at an allergy clinic) recommended saline irrigation, which translates into Neti Pot.

Have you seen these things? You fill it with warm water, add the saline solution, and pour it up your nose. Sound strange? It is, but it seems to have cleared a little of the congestion.

It looks like the cutest little blue teapot. But you can bet your bottom dollar that no tea will be served in this pot!

ENJOY YOUR DAY

ONE PROJECT COMPLETED ... ANOTHER ONE IN LINE

I finished doing the framing around our bathroom mirrors yesterday. I still need to caulk a couple of places, but essentially they're done.

This is the hall bath:

This is Dom's mirror:

And this is my mirror:

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. And it wasn't that hard to do - the hardest part was holding the top piece in place until the adhesive took!

Now, the next project I want to do involves the opening between our family room and the kitchen. The opening is framed, but it's really high. I want to bring it down to the height of the other openings in the house. Donna is going to help me.

We're going to go from this:

to this (in white):

Again, this doesn't look too hard to do and I think it will bring that opening down to a normal level that matches the rest of the house. I'd like to get that one done sometime this month.

And then maybe a chair rail in the breakfast room.

I've really got to stop looking at decorating magazines and blogs!

FRIENDS

I was just given this award by Missy at Suzie Said I Should. Thanks so much, Missy. Here's the little blurb that goes with it:

This award is given to the writers of blogs that "are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I can't just give this to eight blogger friends - I consider all of you who read this blog friends, so this award is for everyone.

Missy is fairly new to the blogging world. Go over and visit her - she has a lot of good things to say.

CHANGES ARE COMING

I'm finally getting started on some projects around the house.

First, the mirrors in the bathrooms. I got the trim pieces today at Lowes, had them all cut to size, and bought the paint. I'm hoping to paint them tomorrow and then put them up on Sunday morning.

I bought the 2 baker's racks for the living room that will hold the TV. They were on sale at Hobby Lobby, 40% off. They only had the 2 and they were both scratched (a little black paint or Sharpie will cover the marks), so we asked - and were given - a little more off the price. We wound up getting them at 50% off each. Today I went and bought smaller racks to sit on the ends - curved ones that are about half the height. And I got a couple of black baskets to hold CD's and DVD's - I think I might need another basket or two.

I just listed the large entertainment center that we currently have on Craig's List. Hopefully that will sell quickly so I can buy the new TV and get everything up and running. Dom's birthday is the end of May and I'm going to get him a 26" flat panel TV for the bedroom.

I have a new stack of books to read and plenty of other books for challenges. I want to keep up with them, so I'll have plenty of reading to do in the next few weeks.

Our neighborhood is having a garage sale on May 29-30. Dom has a few things we wants to sell, so I guess I'll be doing that one morning.

And I have the dresses to start sewing!

I guess all this will keep me busy for a little while!

BOOK REQUEST

I have this book - HANDLE WITH CARE by Jodi Picoult - slated for a challenge. I need to read the book during the month of May for this challenge.

My library only has 25 copies and I'm number 59 on the hold list, so it doesn't look like I'll be getting the book this month. I don't want to buy the book in hardcover, as I have all of Ms. Picoult's books in trade paperback and will wait until next year to purchase it.

Here's my request. If anyone has a copy of this book that they would be willing to lend to me for a couple of weeks, I'd really appreciate it. I take especially good care of my books and live in a non-smoking home. I'd have the book finished in a few days and would send it back immediately.

If there's anyone interested in helping me out on this, please let me know. Thanks!

SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO DO

I'm on project overload.

A while back, I did a post about wanting to frame my bathroom mirrors. It's not a hard project or too time consuming or expensive. But I never got around to getting the trim pieces. So that project has been on hold.

I need to get the 2 baker's racks and the flat panel TV this week - before they go off sale. Then I'll need to empty the entertainment center and sell it - either to a friend that I bowl with or put it on Craig's List. Whatever way I choose - it needs to be out of here ASAP.

And yesterday, I bought material to start sewing some summer dresses and tops. It seems all the dresses I made a couple of years ago have mysteriously shrunk while hanging in my closet!

Here are the patterns I'll be using:


And here's the material I bought - I don't know which material I will use with which pattern yet:


As my Monday bowling league will end next week, I figure I'll have a little more time to work on these projects. Of course, every time I see pictures of home projects on someone's blog, I look around the house and find a place where I can do something similar. Or I'll see another pretty bolt of material. Or new yarn to knit something or new books to read. I'm hopeless!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY - RETURN TO SULLIVANS ISLAND

Waiting on Wednesday highlights new books to be released soon. Check out Breaking the Spine for other new releases.

Here's one I just found out about a day or so ago:


I love Dorothea Benton Frank and her stories of the Low County in South Carolina. I've read all of her books and enjoyed them all - FULL OF GRACE not as much as the others though.

RETURN TO SULLIVANS ISLAND is a sequel to her first book SULLIVAN'S ISLAND (I wonder why the earlier title has Sullivan's with an apostrophe and the newer one doesn't?) and will be released on June 30. I'll be looking for this one!

A-SHOPPING WE WILL GO

Thanks for your suggestions about a flat panel TV. That's going to have to take a back seat for a little while - today we're looking for a used washer and dryer for Shelby.

She used the laundry facilities at the apartment complex the other day and spent over $10 to wash and dry some of their clothes. I told her she could bring her things here, but I know she'd really like to have her own appliances. Just makes life easier all around.

Dom and I have been looking on Craig's List, but haven't found anything that looks great. We saw a couple sets that were interesting, but we never heard back from the sellers.

So we're looking at a couple of used appliance stores in the area. I'm sure we can find something for her that's in good condition and in our price range. UPDATE: Mission accomplished, washer and dryer purchased, to be delivered and installed today.

Then we can look for a TV!

SUGGESTIONS NEEDED

As I'm sure we are the only family in the US that doesn't have a flat panel TV, I need suggestions. We are thinking of getting either a 32 or 37 inch TV. No larger.

Do you have a flat panel TV? What brand? Do you like it? Would you recommend it? Are they hard to hook up? We will be putting it on a metal baker's rack - how heavy are they? What are good prices for this size? Where did you get yours?

The TV we have now is good, but I really would like something better. Plus I want to get rid of the big heavy entertainment center we have now. I saw a couple of cute black metal baker's racks at Hobby Lobby that I think would look great. Plus they're 40% off this week. But I can't use the racks unless we get a flat panel TV.

So suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

CHALLENGE COMPLETED

I'm calling the Support Your Local Library Challenge completed.

When this challenge started, I had signed up to read 12 books from the library. I've passed that number, and I'm still using the library. But I'm going to call this one finished now - I need to make more room on my sidebar!

I'll still be linking library books to this challenge, but I won't be listing them on the sidebar any more. I'll still keep a running list on my other blog - Challenge Me - if you want to see which books I've read.

Thanks to J. Kaye for hosting this great challenge.

SOUTHERN READING CHALLENGE

Maggie of Maggie Reads is again hosting one of my favorite challenges - the Southern Reading Challenge. This one will run from May 15 through August 15. Three books showing a Southern point of view are required.

I recently won 2 books that will be perfect for this challenge, and I just ordered a third book from Amazon. Here's my list (though I might even add to it later):

THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING by Joshilyn Jackson
GIRLS IN TRUCKS by Katie Crouch
LOOKING FOR SALVATION AT THE DAIRY QUEEN by Susan Gregg Gilmore

This is always a fun challenge - Maggie includes mini-contests and great prizes. Stop over here to read about the challenge and sign up.

FIRST FAMILY

FIRST FAMILY by David Baldacci was read for the Pub 2009 Challenge and the Support Your Local Library Challenge.

From the book jacket:

It begins with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts.

This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping ... which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn't want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child.

With Michelle still battling her own demons and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define ... or defend.

Mr. Baldacci, you have never let me down. I have read every one of your books and loved them all. You manage to keep up the suspense and intrigue while dealing with murder after murder. Your characters are never one-dimensional - they all have depth and realism. Even the "bad guys" have a good side to them.

Although I read this one as a library book, I have a copy ordered to keep here at home, along with all of Mr. Baldacci's other books. Like Lisa Scottoline, his are books I order as soon as they are released, sight and review unseen.

39 AND COUNTING

Today is our 39th anniversary. (How can that be if I'm only 39 years old???)

Dom and I only dated for 5 weeks before we got married. We spent 2 of the 5 weeks determining if we should get married in Pennsylvania, where witnesses and blood tests were required, or in Maryland, where none were needed.

We decided on Maryland. There was a 48-hour waiting period, so to get married on a Saturday, we needed to get our license on Thursday. Dom had been out of town, so I picked him up at the Philadelphia airport and we drove down to Elkton, MD. We arrived at just about noon. The lady at the desk put the time on our license as 11:30 am because the court closed at noon on Saturday - thus giving us a full 30 minutes to have the ceremony performed.

On Saturday morning, we were late leaving. We stopped at a diner for breakfast, then realized we needed to get moving - fast. As we're driving along, above the speed limit, Dom got pulled over by the state police. When he explained to the officer that we were on our way to get married and had to be there by 11:30, the officer rolled his eyes and gave Dom a ticket anyway.

So now we're off. We got to the courthouse in time, then had to sit in the hallway waiting our turn. There were other couples there in various forms of dress. A few older couples in shorts and one young couple in full bridal attire with attendants. The clerk started calling in the couples by last names - Black and White, Smith and Jones. When she got to our names, I guess she didn't want to try to pronounce Pistilli so were were just called as Lynne and Dom.

We were escorted into the chambers of Mr. E. Day Moore, a sweet older gentleman. We presented our license and he started the ceremony. When he got to the part "Is there anyone present who objects to this marriage" I started to giggle. There were only the 3 of us in the room - who was going to object? Then Dom managed to drop my ring before he put it on my finger. Finally, at exactly 12 noon, we were married.

We left Elkton and headed back to Pennsylvania, stopping along the way for lunch. Dom drove to his mother's house so he could spend time with his son, John, and I took the car and went to my mother's. She didn't believe we had gotten married until I showed her the license. Dom hadn't even told his mother he was getting married. I didn't meet her until the following week, when he introduced me as a girl he was dating. I can't remember when we told her we were married, but I know that she was counting months when our first daughter was born 15 months later!

After a couple of hours, I went to get Dom and we went back to our apartment. Our neighbors had us over for a little wedding cake, then Dom and I went out for dinner - to a Gay Nineties bar where you drink beer, eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor, and sing along to a honky-tonk piano.

Three weeks later, my mother held a reception for us at her house. She had food and a cake and our friends and family were there. Dom played bartender, got drunk, and locked us by mistake in my mother's bedroom.

We seem never to do things the "traditional" way! But it's worked for us!

U-VERSE IN, PRINTER OUT - FOR NOW

We had U-Verse installed yesterday with no major problems. I can now record up to 4 shows at a time and watch them on either TV. I also have gotten rid of my router, which makes the office desk a lot neater - less cords and wires.

But I can't get my wireless printer to work. It's going to take a little time to reset the connections. That gives me something to do this morning.

I had to empty our entertainment center and computer desk so that they could be moved out from the wall. I wish you could have seen the piles of old VHS tapes that we have! I just ordered a computer program that will allow me to convert them to DVD. I'll do some of them - ones we might want to watch again - then I'm going to get rid of them. I have to make a list of what we have first. If anyone is interested in seeing the list and getting FREE tapes, let me know.

I also ordered a program to convert cassette tapes to CD - I have a stack of them to do also. Anyone want any cassettes?


UPDATE: The printer is up and working. I couldn't get it to work wireless from the desktop computer, so I had to put on a USB cable. But both computers will print now - that's all that matters!

APRIL BOOKS

April turned out to be a slow reading month for me. I guess life - and a vacation - got in the way. Here's my list of what I did read during the month:

TENDING ROSES (Lisa Wingate) - Read Your Own Books Challenge

TOMATO GIRL (Jayne Pupek) - Every Month is a Holiday Challenge, New Author Challenge

BENEATH A MARBLE SKY (John Shors) - Read Your Own Books Challenge, New Authors Challenge, 9 Books for 2009 Challenge

PLUM LUCKY (Janet Evanovich) - Support Your Local Library Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge

IN A GILDED CAGE (Rhys Bowen) - Support Your Local Library Challenge, Pub 2009 Challenge

GALWAY BAY (Mary Pat Kelly) - Support Your Local Library Challenge, Pub 2009 Challenge, New Authors Challenge, Chunkster Challenge

LOOK AGAIN (Lisa Scottoline) - Pub 2009 Challenge

Just 7 books this month, 43 for the year. May is going to be a better month!

How did you do, reading-wise, last month?