Disappointment

From this weekend:

Can you tell someone wasn't too happy this past weekend's performances of "Annie" had to be postponed due to the weather?

Thanksgiving - Day Two

The pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving with a multi-day feast, so why shouldn't we? Day two was at my cousin's house and featured pigs in the blankets, a roaring fire, sing-alongs around the player piano, old home movies, and lots of great company.

Fun at the Rochester Museum & Science Center

Instead of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving we headed to the Rochester Museum & Science Center with friends and cousins (okay, one of the friends did hit some early sales first).

We were at the museum for seven hours, mainly enjoying hands on exhibits. We also got to see a visiting Titanic Exhibition which was very interesting. They give you a boarding pass with information about a particular passenger - at the end you find out if your person survived or not. I think the only one in our group who had the card of a survivor was my daughter. It's a very sobering experience.

Most of the time at the museum, though, was spent 'doing' things, including digging for dinosaur bones, scaling a rock wall and learning how things like combination locks work.

Thanksgiving - The Aftermath

Ah, a good time was apparently had by all, and now the kids have collapsed on their cousin. The sure sign of a successful day!

Ordinary Time and Advent

About a year ago I had an idea of making table runners that would correspond to the liturgical year. I finally got around to making the first one about a week ago.

One side is green - to correspond with Ordinary Time.

Today I got to turn it over to the purple side, because Advent starts today!

That Holiday Time of the Year

It's getting to be that time of year. It's The Holidays. Actually, if you look at sales fliers the entire year is some sort of Holiday season - there always seems to be some reason to have a sale. But the big Holidays, the one that get an entire season named after them are the winter holidays.

Honestly it seems as if it starts with Halloween - anything after that is part of the Holiday Season. And there are a lot of different holidays: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali and of course Christmas and New Years.

Because of the variety of holidays and the various cultural traditions I don't have a big problem when people say "Happy Holidays" to kind of incorporate the whole season. Especially in an area like ours where you can never be too certain which holiday people are celebrating - if any at all.

I do have one complaint though. And that is when the generic use of Holiday is used not in a way that incorporates all of the seasonal holidays, but to replace the word Christmas.

Holiday cookies? I don't know, I guess the other holidays can all benefit from some cookies, but I don't know how many of them traditionally have lots of baked goods as part of their celebrations.

Holiday lights? That one actually works for a bunch of holidays - especially Diwali and Hanukkah.

But a Holiday Tree? Come on. It's a Christmas Tree. Really. Just say it. Don't be afraid.

And on December 25tth. When the newspapers put a banner headline up above the title that says "Happy Holidays" I always feel a little cheated. Especially on a year when it does not over lap with another holiday, we all know what "Holiday" is being celebrated. Just go ahead and say it already.

Now, I'm not going to boycott stores who say "Happy Holidays". After all - Holiday does come from "Holy Days" but I do feel that if you're going to make a lot of money when people buy stuff for Christmas, you could at least call the giant candy canes and decorated trees Christmas decorations.

Two thoughts in passing to end this mini-rant.

1) One time the Jehovah Witnesses stopped by our house shortly before Christmas. As they were leaving I wished them a Merry Christmas. The cold look they gave me reminded me that not everyone celebrates Christmas - and some are rather strict about that non-celebration. (oops - any insult was totally unintentional.)

2) Once during the "Holiday season" I was in a store and heard a woman complain - and I quote: "I hate when they shove all this religion into Christmas."

I didn't say anything to her, because my brain didn't work fast enough to come up with something, and I doubt it would have made a difference anyway. But I do try to remember that while the people I know might decry the commercialization and secularization of Christmas, there are always people who hold quite different views. I hope they all have a very Happy Holiday.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 11

I'm thankful for our veterans: people who are willing to put their lives on the line to help preserve our way of life. Even if they never saw combat, they were still willing and that makes them special.

Ninety-one years ago, at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month the armistice was signed that ended the "War to end all Wars." Would that it had really ended all wars, but I'm not sure anything will actually do that. And because war continues, we continue to have veterans.

And I will continue to be grateful to them and their service to this country.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 6

I'm thankful that it's Friday.

Is that corny and trite? Who cares. I'm still thankful that tomorrow is the weekend and my husband won't be at work and everyone will be healthy and things can get back to normal.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 5

It's not that I wasn't thankful for things on the 3rd and 4th of this month, but I find myself much more open to being thankful now that my fever is gone (and I'm able to stay awake past 8 pm), and my son's fever seems to be on the way out.

So, what am I thankful for? Recuperation. I'm thankful for returned health. And I'm also thankful for the fact that the biggest worries we tend to have health-wise are the occasional bad cold and other run of the mill sicknesses - even if that does sometimes knock me for a loop.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 2

I am thankful that my kids still enjoy playing with toys we've owned for going on seven years. On their day off today, after doing the computer thing and x-box thing they opted to get out the trains and play with that. I love to see their imaginations at work when they play with this.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 1

A couple of years ago I did a post a day for the month of November, highlighting something I was thankful for.

I'll see if I can do it again.

I have lots to be thankful for - but sometimes it just gets a little lost in the day to day craziness of life.

So, today - November 1, I'm thankful for kids who love to read.

When they're caught up in a book, nothing else matters. And they quote from books, and like to share parts of books with each other, and share book recommendations with each other. It's a great thing!

Halloween Parade

Today was the Halloween parade and party at my son's school.

There seems to be growing controversy about Halloween every year.

It's satanic, it's pagan, it glorifies death. Young girls wear costumes that are too sexy. The coersion involved in saying "trick or treat". Sugar is bad for you.

Yeah, okay, I'm sure that depending on how people celebrate Halloween you can find all of those aspects. In fact, depending on people live their lives, you can find all of those aspects. You don't have to wait for a specfic day.

You know what I see in Halloween around here? I see kids who have fun getting dressed up in costumes (and yeah, some of them are kind of ghoulish - but not most, and some may be skimpy- most aren't - and let's face it, it's October in NJ, how much skin is a kid going to show?)

They get to dress up for part of the school day and act silly with their friends. They get to go door-to-door (and let me just say, I very seldom see groups of kids without one or more parents with them) and get candy. And lets face it, for most of these kids - the candy is the thing.

Today in one of our local papers there was an opinion piece about how adults are contributing to the ill health of children by distributing candy on Halloween. Give me a break. It's one day a year. I'm sure that some kids gorge themselves to the point of making themselves sick. But kids aren't going to become obese based on one day a year. That has to do with a whole life-style that involves not enough activity and too many empty calories.

For the kids, Halloween isn't about pagans or the occult or spirits rising from the grave.

It's about the candy.

And I'm okay with that.

Tuesday's Proverb

For lack of guidance a people falls; security lies in many counselors. (Proverbs 11:14)

Blogtoberfest over at Jeri's Place

This month Jeri Smith-Ready is celebrating her blog birthday with Halloween themed guest posts and book give-aways all month.

Today is my day. So go over and see what I had to offer in the way of a ghost story and comment for a chance to win a signed copy of When Mike Kissed Emma.

Points for Honesty

Harry: My goal in life is to make people happy.

Me: Does that include your sister?

Harry (without missing a beat): No. Not usually.



Side note: this is post number one thousand. I should have thought of something fun and exciting to commemorate the event!

National Walk Your Child to School Day

Walking to school. It's something I did from fourth grade on. If the weather was particularly nasty there were rides involved, but otherwise I walked. Sometimes I walked alone, sometimes I walked with friends. Sometimes it was really cold and sometimes I needed an umbrella. But I understood that, in general, to get to school meant using foot power to get there.

Now my kids walk to school. It's not a hardship. The elementary school is roughly half a mile a way and the middle school about 3/4 of a mile. We've been walking since my daughter was in pre-school. It's a pleasant walk alongside a creek that is filled with geese and ducks and now even has fountains. We've seen turtles and egrets and hawks there as well. We go over a wooden bridge, and when it has rained recently the creek under the bridge rushes over the rocks likes waterfalls. We encounter two crossing guards on the way who always have a nice word. Walking isn't so bad.

I think it's important for the kids to walk to school. First, I want them to know that leaving the house does not automatically mean getting in the car. Second, the exercise is a good thing and when they then have to sit in school for six hours, I at least know there was some activity and exercise before they got there and will be some on the way home. Also, on days when it is blustery and not good days to play outside, once they've made the 15 minute walk home, I figure they've at least gotten some exercise and fresh air for the day and I don't mind if they stay in. Third, it's teaching them good safety rules. This is not my primary reason for walking, but whenever "Walk Your Child to School Day" comes around and people who don't usually walk hit the sidewalks the crossing guards always tell me how my kids understand about safely crossing the street and staying on the sidewalks, something she doesn't think a lot of those other kids quite get.

So, today is Walk Your Child to School Day. And it's raining. And my son is getting over a bronchial infection and guess what: I think we're driving today. But that's okay, because to us, almost every day is "Walk Your Child to School Day."

This was Pippi's last day of kindergarten, with our friendly local crossing guard.

Tuesday's Proverb

A newsmonger reveals secrets, but a trustworthy man keeps a confidence. (Proverbs 11:13)

Tuesday's Proverb

He who reviles his neighbor has no sense, but the intelligent man keeps silent. (Proverbs 11:12)

When Only The Best Books Will Do

A completely candid shot of my son tonight (he didn't even look up when the flash went off - that's how absorbed he was in the book)

Apple Picking

Today was our annual outing to pick apples. Of course, like so many things that become regular parts of our lives, it involves much more than just picking apples.

One thing we tried to do differently this year was not end up with forty pounds of apples. To this end we only took one bag from the hut instead of two (or like he did once in our complete folly - four). But the apples look so good. And just one more ... and ooh, look at this one... and I really want this kind... and soon enough we had 32 pounds of apples. Okay, it wasn't over forty like we'd done other years - but really, that's a lot of apples (and all in one - very heavy - bag!)

Like I said though, the apples are only a small part of the day. We've also go to our favorite park. Washington's Crossing Park on the Delaware. We had a picnic lunch there and checked out the visitor centers (one on each side of the river). We of course walked across the bridge spanning the Delaware and hung out down by the river.

Then a stop at a local winery on the way home and the ritual aspects of the day were complete.

Actually, this year we did leave one thing out - because we had an obligation in the evening and therefore some time constraints - we didn't go wander around our old college campus to see how much has changed.

And naturally there was apple crisp for dessert. (With 30 pounds of apples, there's going to be a lot of apple based desserts in our future.)

Tuesday's Proverb

Through the blessing of the righteous the city is exalted, but through the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. (Proverbs 11:11)

We Remember

It's raining today.

A heavy, wind-driven rain.

It's not at all like that day eight years ago when the sky was that perfect color of blue and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was a day that seemed too perfect for the atrocities that unfolded.

That day was like having a hurricane roar out of the clear blue sky. To some it was a direct hit, changing their world, their life, forever. For my family, it was a glancing blow. We felt the effects of it, but not the full brunt.

It was getting the phone call, from my Mom, telling me that two planes had crashed and the top of the World Trade Center was on fire.

It was not comprehending what that meant, assuming it had to be two small planes. An accident. Not a deliberate act.

It was turning on the radio and starting to understand what had happened.

It was turning on the TV and seeing nothing. Because we don't have cable or satellite and all the transmitting antennas were on top of the World Trade Center (except for channel two, which was on the Empire State Building - that and PBS were the only channels we had for months).

It was feeling shaky with panic and wanting to cry, but not wanting to do any of that in front of the kids, because they were only four and one.

It was trying to call my husband at work (not in NYC) but not being able to get through because all the phone lines in the area were jammed.

It was going outside to talk with neighbors. Because that's what neighbors do at time like that and then going inside and watching the news on their TV, and while the kids played in another room watching the first tower collapse. And all I could think was "the people got out, right?" But somehow knowing that they hadn't.

It was driving to the waterfront with a friend (and the kids) to see for myself the changed skyline. Where the towers had always been, instead there was a pillar of smoke. Smoke that lingered in the air for days.

It was hearing about friends of friends who had gotten that last phone call: "I'm leaving now" but never heard anything else.

It was hearing the stories, not on the news, but from people at the school playground, of the person who had missed the train, or had decided to stop and buy shoes, so was running late to work that day, and never made it to the towers, but instead got to come home to family.

It was seeing a couple of lonely cars in the train station parking lot late at night and wondering if the owners were coming back.

It was flyers on telephone poles as people searched for information about loved ones.

It was pages and pages of obituaries. Mostly of young people, all with that same line: Died, September 11, 2001.

It was having my friend say "I thought you should know, the girls were playing funeral this afternoon. We've been to a couple lately, and I guess it's been on my daughter's mind."

And the effects lingered. When my daughter started kindergarten the next year, it was hearing that the school had a lockdown plan and what to expect if you couldn't get your child from school. To which my brain responded, "like h*ll I'm leaving my five-year-old in school overnight" but at the same time realizing that something might happen that would make it necessary. Because after September 11, anything could happen, the world no longer felt safe.

Even more years later it was the bully in my son's kindergarten class, about whom parents nodded sadly and said "his father was killed on 9/11".

Today my kids will have lessons in school about 9/11. Will they remember that clear blue day when their mother hugged them tighter and they stood on the fishing pier and watched a huge pillar of smoke?

They might not remember.

But I do.

Tuesday's Proverb

When the just prosper, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. (Proverbs 11:10)

Tuesday's Proverb

With his mouth the impious man would ruin his neighbor, but through their knowledge the just make their escape. (Proverbs 11:9)

The Teddy Bears are Ready

For the Teddy Bear Picnic. Now, if the weather will just cooperate tomorrow we should have a good time!

A Day At The Beach

It took us until the last week in August to make it to the beach. But it was a wonderful beach day when we got there. The air was hot, the water was comfortable, so it was no hardship going in. There were waves, but no so big and rough that you couldn't get past them. There was a good crowd, I guess a lot of other people looked at the forecast and realized it might be the last good beach day. Yesterday the temperature was near 90, today it's in the high seventies. Makes a big difference! Tomorrow it's going to be in the low seventies!

Tuesday's Proverb

The just man escapes trouble, and the wicked man falls into it in his stead. (Proverbs 11:8)

How I Celebrated Release Day!

No, I didn't stomp grapes, but we did spend the week in Virginia. Here I am with my book and two kids, pretending to stomp grapes in Busch Gardens Italy section.

(If my son looks bored, I think it had more to do with it being well into the 90s then anything else.)

More pictures to come!

Guest Blogging

Please stop by and visit me over at Climbing Rose Blog where I'm guest blogging this week. Today I'm wondering why I still have to do laundry, not that I'm published.

Guest Blogging

Please stop by and visit me over at Climbing Rose Blog where I'm guest blogging this week. Today I'm talking about when I first saw my books.

Release Day!

It's here!

The official release date of When Mike Kissed Emma!


Here's me when I first got to hold a copy in my hot little hand:



And here's the trailer:



And the waiting is over, you can buy your copy today!

Guest Blogging

Please stop by and visit me over at Climbing Rose Blog where I'm guest blogging this week. Today I'm talking about magical first kisses.

Guest Blogging

Please stop by and visit me over at Climbing Rose Blog where I'm guest blogging this week. Today I'm talking about the very beginnings of When Mike Kissed Emma.

Interview over at The Climbing Rose Blog

This week I will be guest posting over at Climbing Rose Blog, starting with an interview today. So please stop by!

The Kids in the Park Put on a Show

For the sixth year running we've been lucky enough to be part of the Kids in the Park program for kids ages 8 to 11 (they're a bit flexible with the ages and both my kids started at 7). This year Pippi was too old to be in the show, but she was still involved as one of the helpers backstage.

The show was Mary Poppins and Harry had the unusual role of Al Gore. What can I say, this is an adaptation of the original.

The program runs for two weeks, rain or shine. On the first Monday they have auditions and on the last Friday they put on a forty-five minute show with songs, dances and lots of fun.

During the two weeks they have "music class" and "dance class" and "arts and crafts" where they put together costumes and props.

They even have a talent show so all the kids can showcase their unique talents.

So today we watched Mary Poppins and now I have this uncontrollable urge to fly a kite. I wonder why?

Off to Go Fly a Kite

Okay, not literally - in that I won't be flying a kite, but it is time for the theater camp's production of Mary Poppins. My son has a small role, unique to this production, and my daughter is a helper this year - having aged out of this camp. Pictures later.

Tuesday's Proverb

When a wicked man dies his hope perishes, and what is expected from strength comes to nought. (Proverbs 11:7)

Talented Kids

On Friday I watched the talent show at the theater camp my kids go to. Neither one of my children opted to perform, so I just sat back and watched the other people's kids.

Things I learned.
1) There are a lot of talented kids out there.

2) Kids are brave.
Some of these kids weren't particularly talented, but they got out there and did their thing anyway. Good for them. You need to take that chance and make that leap.

3) Kids have fun working together.
Groups of kids did little dance routines together and you could just tell that they had as much fun getting together and practicing during the past week as they did performing on Friday.

4) There are lots of different talents in the world. Some kids can sing, some can dance, some can tell jokes and others can make strange noises with their mouths. But it's all good. It's all a way of getting up there and saying "Hey, look what I can do!"

Just so you know, my kids have participated in the talent show every other year, this year they just opted out.

Tuesday's Proverb on Wednesday

The virtue of the upright saves them, but the faithless are caught in their own intrigue. (Proverbs 11:6)

(I need to start scheduling these so I don't miss any more Tuesdays)

Drum Roll, Please

Yes, that's what it looks like. I got my books yesterday! You can go here and read all about it.

It's Here!

Even though the release date for When Mike Kissed Emma is still a couple of weeks away, you don't have to wait any longer! It is now available to order at Amazon.com.

The Sweetest Place on Earth

We had a mini-vacation this week with a trip out to Lancaster and Hershey Park. The Lancaster part of the trip involved good eating and fun shopping and of course a trip to the archery supply store to get accessories for my daughter's favorite sport.

We got to Hershey Park on Friday night and took advantage of their evening preview. You buy tickets for the next day, but get to go in for the last 3 hours or so that they're open the night before (plus you only pay once for parking.) So we were there until eleven going on some of the rides we knew we wanted to go on and that might have long lines the next day. It's very fun being able to just go on what you want without any waiting.

The next morning we got to the park before it opened and went on the "Chocolate Factory Tour" which isn't really a tour of the chocolate factory, but a ride that shows what the factory is like (assuming there are singing cows in the factory.) Then into the park at opening time. Nearly twelve hours later we headed home.

Pippi agreed to go on a roller coaster (not one of the crazy big ones) and she found that she really enjoyed it and even went on it again. Harry had even bigger ambitions and went on The Comet - a large wooden roller coaster - with his Dad. He loved it and that was another ride that had to be done again before we could leave.

We had a very fun and exhausting time at the Sweetest Place on Earth.

The (Puppet) Play's the Thing

When I went into the kitchen yesterday to prepare dinner I was surprised to find that a show was in progress. A ticket had been sold and presented, a chair was set up in front of the stage and the sound system consisted of the mp3 player plugged into the amp.

The first play up was a love story between Minnie Mouse and Tigger. It consisted of a lot of them singing about how much they loved each other and a wedding where they promised to feed each other and protect each other from the plague.

I was a little lost on the plot of subsequent productions as the audience and players shifted positions.

For at least an hour last night the kids played with the puppet theater, entertaining each other with delightful plays. The puppet theater is one I made probably close to eight years ago, after seeing a similar one in a catalog. It is suspended in the doorway with a tension curtain rod. When not it use it hangs by two hooks in the sun room, brightening up the white wall. It's not used far more often than it is used, but how delightful when they put it in place and put on a play!

Best Laid Plans and all that

In a futile attempt to be organized I plan my meals a week at a time. I even check the weather forecast. If it's supposed to be really hot - then maybe a make-ahead cold salad would be good. And if it looks like nice weather I plan on using the grill.

Checking yesterday for this week, the only day that didn't have possible thundershowers as part of the forecast was today. Just a happy little sun telling me all was well and that it would be a perfect day to grill some burgers.

So, yeah, it's raining.

Though I see clear sky in the distance, maybe it will dry up by the time I want to cook dinner.

Tuesday's Proverb

The honest man's virtue makes his way straight, but by his wickedness the wicked man falls. (Proverbs 11:5)

Animal Instincts

You know how a cat will sit for hours curled up in front of the hearth and then at seemingly no provocation leap up and run around the house four or five times at top speed before settling back in front of the hearth again?

Well that's what my son's like.

Except for sitting for hours curled up in front of the hearth.

(Though he can spend a bit of time in front of the computer.)

Mystery Flower

This delicate little flower is busy spreading itself through my front flower garden. I don't know what it is. I suspect it might be a weed.

But a weed is just a plant in a place you don't want it. I like this flower and want it in my garden, so I declare it 'not a weed.'

The blossoms only last for a short time. This is what it looks like before the blossom opens. Anyone (Mom?) have any idea what this flower might be called?

Where to Start a Story?

When you can't just say "Once upon a time" a story needs a compelling first sentence. When Mike Kissed Emma went through several before I settled on a keeper. Head on over to Simply Put to see what they were and guess the winner.

Early Attempts at Fiction

Over at Simply Put the countdown to When Mike Kissed Emma continues as I tell about an early story I wrote and the TV shows that influenced it.

Tuesday's Proverb

Wealth is useless on the day of wrath, but virtue saves from death. (Proverbs 11:4)

Why I Never Made it to Broadway

Stop by over at Simply Put to find out why I never made it as a Broadway actress, and what that possibly has to do with When Mike Kissed Emma, which is coming out next month.

Men on the Moon

Forty years ago today man first walked on the moon. Even forty years later it's still a feat to be astonished at - though I suspect that some people figured that by now we'd have colonies up there or something.

Many people can tell you their memories of that day. They remember watching the grainy footage. They remember the first words spoken. They know where they were and what they were thinking as they were watching it.

I'm not one of those people.

I was three years old when the men landed on the moon and something much more important was happening in my life than a moon walk. My little brother had just been born three days earlier.

A second little brother.

That didn't seem fair. I already had a little brother, I needed a sister. I told my father as much when he informed me that I had a new little brother.

I remember sitting on the floor in the kitchen, surrounded by pots and pans that I had removed from the cupboard. My dad handed me a snack bag of potato chips from the hospital - part of my mother's lunch that she didn't eat, I suspect - and told me I had a new baby brother.

And what was my reaction. "Bring him back and get me a sister. And while you're at it, get me more potato chips."

See - it's not that I don't have specific memories of that time - just not of the moon landing.

I'm happy to say my parents did not trade me new little brother in for a sister. He grew on me over the years.
How could he not?

Summer Nights

When I lie awake on a summer night, crisp clean sheets beneath me and a slight breeze rustling the curtains, the fan whirring overhead, it brings me back to overnights at my grandparents house.

I would be on the rollaway bed while my brothers shared the pull-out in the spare room at my grandparent's house. The room that had been our father's when he was a teen. We were too little to appreciate teenager-hood. That was practically a grown-up as far as we were concerned.

We'd be freshly showered, but still sunburned and beach-tired from a day at the ocean. The ocean was one of the highlights of my grandparents' house. Winter or summer we would go down to the beach when we visited. In the summer we would go back to the house and get the sand off at the outside shower at the back of my grandparents' house (how cool is that - an outside shower!)

After dinner we'd watch a little TV while my grandparents' did the dishes. I remember my grandpa drying while grandma washed, aglow in the yellowish light over the sink. I love a kitchen with a cozy yellowish light in it, it gives me a happy feeling inside.

Finally we'd all settle into the guest room. The traffic sounds would be different than at home. The beds were different. I wasn't usually in the same room as my brothers. There was giggling and talking and probably a bit of quibbling. But eventually I'd hear the even breathing that meant sleep had overtaken the boys and I'd lie awake, hoping for that hint of a breeze through the windows. It all had a quintessential summer feeling to it and when I lie awake at night hoping for that hint of a breeze through the window it transports me back to that house with the cozy yellow light.

(the picture is of my brothers and me at the beach by my grandparents - around 1972)

Tuesday's Proverb

The honesty of the upright guides them; the faithless are ruined by their duplicity. (Proverbs 11:3)

Braces

We entered a new phase around here. The phase of orthondontia. Pippi has mixed feelings about getting braces. On the one hand she wanted them on so she could start the process of fixing her overbite (plus, all her friends have them). Now that they're on though she's lamenting the things she won't be able to eat and the extra work involved in brushing them. Besides, 2 and 1/2 years looks like quite a long time when your standing at the beginning of it.

I don't know how well you can tell in the picture, but the bands around the brackets are colorful. She chose blue and green to start with. In two months, when she goes back, she can pick different colors. Her friends have already figured out how they plan to coordinate their bands with the year (red and blue for fourth of July and so forth).

Right now she only has the top set on, she'll get the bottom on in 8 or 9 months.

In the meantime, I think need to sell a lot of books to help pay for all this new hardware.

Tuesday's Proverb

When pride comes, disgrace comes; but with the humble is wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)

Happy Fourth of July

We celebrated the Fourth with family - and except for one little ER visit (everyone's okay now) we had a fine time. Tyler really liked his first taste of swimming, I think he wore his daddy out.

The Festival

Yesterday we went to the Kutztown Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival. We watched a glass blowing demonstration (fascinating stuff), there were people demonstrating how to thatch a roof and make sauerkraut and make apple butter and candles. And how to make brooms, or weave or work leather. All kind of hand crafts were being made and on sale. We ate funnel cake and kettle corn and hot dogs with sauerkraut. We watched a couple of great shows featuring musically talented families. The weather was beautiful. A great day - but exhausting!

Trailer for When Mike Kissed Emma

The release date for When Mike Kissed Emma is coming up fast (August 19) so I decided it was time to finalize the trailer and get it out here for people to see.

Without further ado - here it is:

Tuesday's Proverb on Wednesday

False scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a full weight is his delight. (Proverbs 11:1)

A Secret Message

Flipping through one of my yellow notepads for a blank page, I came across this cryptic message, in all caps and written in pencil:

Attention AGENT
THE PSA IS ALMOST READY
TO QUESTION THE
CRAB
F.UR.THER INVESTIGATION
COMING SOON
P.S. THIS MISSAGE
WILL SELF-DESTRU
CT
_______________
THE RED LIGHT
SPELLS "YOU ARE
"COOL" IN MORSE

I think the kids have been reading spy books. Or are planning a coup.