Another 80s indulgence

One of the most fun things I do as a parent, although admittedly trivial in the grand scheme of things, is introduce my kids to things I love and see their reactions. Many favorite movies, books, and television shows of mine are waiting for the boys to be old enough to see or read. Much of my favorite music has already been played repeatedly in the van and around the house.

Last week, using Netflix's online instant viewing feature, we all started watching Simon & Simon, season 1. What a time warp! Imagine private detectives in 1981, before computers, before cell phones, before caller ID for crying out loud! This was one of my favorite shows from the time I was 12 until it went off the air in 1989. A true '80s indulgence. I remember I kept a notebook of all the episodes, who guest starred, plot synopses, and favorite lines from the episodes. Yeah, I was obsessed. Mostly due to the extensively gorgeous Jameson Parker, I admit. I'll have to hunt up the picture of the giant Simon & Simon collage I had on my bedroom wall. It was awesome.

Anyway, for such a dated show, the storylines are usually fun and exciting, if a tad predictable. The best parts of every show are the banter between brothers Rick and A.J. and the times they use disguises to get information. Watching this show again, it's no wonder I wanted to be an actor. It looks like they're having so much fun! And I really like that even though there are plenty of murder mysteries, we don't have to see close-ups of the corpse. And even though the brothers have many lady friends, we don't have to look into their bedrooms. Much better than today's television.

So now every night the boys come running upstairs asking to watch Simon & Simon. I told my oldest two they were lucky I didn't know for sure I'd have two boys in a row or they'd be named Rick and A.J. They didn't seem to mind the idea too much.

Cool

Can you believe it's the tenth of July and we haven't turned the air conditioner on once yet this month? One third of the way through July, and no AC! Unbelievable.

I am really loving this weather. This is my idea of perfect. Eighty during the day, sixty at night, with little to no humidity, and a light breeze. Hot enough in the sun for the kids to swim, but cool enough I can sit in the shade comfortably. If it were like this every year, I wouldn't dread summer so much.

Spanish Summer ready for purchase!

So here's the deal:

As my "prize" for finishing NaNoWriMo this past year, I got to submit my novel to CreateSpace for publication. It is now, finally, ready and can be ordered here.

BUT WAIT!

If you buy it online it's $9.99 plus $3.18 shipping. I, however, can get discounted copies. So here's what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to buy a case of books and sell them to my friends and family for $8.50 INCLUDING shipping. That's right. I'll even sign it for you if you want.

So if you could leave a comment letting me know you want one, I will order them. Once they're in I'll contact you by email and you can use my Paypal account to pay and give me your address. If you live near me and want to pick it up, I'll even take another dollar off! $7.50! Really, how can you pass that up?

Weirder than ever

I have enjoyed Weird Al Yankovic's songs since the mid-80s, but hadn't listened to any of his newer songs. I figured since I didn't know the songs he was parodying, I wouldn't "get" them. Oh, how wrong I was. And look, he even wrote a song about me!

Plus, check out his new Doors-inspired song, "Craigslist" - absolutely hysterical!

Do I get Social Security now?

The other day we were at a church dinner. Usually, they will announce the order in which the tables are to go up to the food line, but this time they did it a little differently. Anyone 70 or older was allowed to go through the line first.

My seven year old looked up at me. "That's you, Mommy!"

And he seemed truly shocked to find out I am not, in fact, over 70. Then he looked at Hubby. "What about Daddy?"

Catmint

The other day I had picked some mint from the garden to make mint tea. Since I wasn't ready to use it yet, I put it in some water on the counter. A while late, my kitten jumped on the counter (as he does often). When he saw the mint, his eyes went wide. Then he hooked it with one paw and carried it to the floor.

Once in his possession, he chewed it, tossed it around, shredded it, and just generally enjoyed the life out of it. My older cat entered the room, saw the mint, and grabbed some for himself.

I've heard of catnip, but I never heard that regular spearmint would invoke this kind of reaction in felines. Anybody else?

My book is out

If you happen to own a Kindle (the coolest device ever), you can now purchase my first novel, Spanish Summer. The print version should be ready soon, and I'll certainly let you know when you can order it!

Grades

I took the four year old for his checkup the other day. While doing the physical exam, the doctor asked him a few questions.

"How high can you count?" was one of them.

"I can count to 100... MILLION!" The doctor probably thought he was kidding, but I bet he could count that high given enough time and patience (I've heard him count to over 100). In any case, the doctor was satisfied with 10. And very impressed when I told him that my preschooler knows all his letters and the sounds they make and is reading simple words.

On the way home, he wanted to know how high his oldest brother could count. "As high as he wants to," I said.

"And what grade is he in?"

"Seventh."

"How high can you count, Mommy?" I gave him the same answer, as high as I want to. "And what grade are you in?"

"I'm not in a grade. I finished school."

He paused for a moment. "So when you finish school you're not in any grade anymore?"

"That's right."

Another pause, then, "That's AWESOME!"

I am thoroughly entertained

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We got a lot of work done around the house and had some relaxing time as well.

My dad is lending me his USB turntable, with which I can transfer all my old records into MP3s. I cannot tell you how excited I am. All those records I collected when I was a kid (you remember, those round black vinyl things?) can now be enjoyed once again! The down side is that I have to sit here while it's recording and separate the tracks. But that's okay - I'm enjoying it.

The other thing I've discovered is Netflix. Well, I wouldn't say discovered so much as received a free month and figured I'd better use it before it expires. Back when we joined this before they didn't have instant movies available on the computer. How cool is that? I might be spending way too much time online in the very near future. Maybe I can watch movies while I transfer my old records! Oh, bliss!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to my third son, who turns seven today!

Drop everything

We have a drop ceiling in our basement. You know, where a metal frame is installed below the ceiling beams and then tiles are suspended in the frame. Now, with a drop ceiling, you expect certain things. You expect the occasional spider to drop down at you. You expect bits of the tiles to drop off if you move them.

We didn't expect that a DROP of water, followed by many more drops, would DROP one of the tiles onto the basement floor in a gooey mess, but that's just what happened back in the fall (hmm... fall. Coincidence?). And we didn't expect last night to have a cat DROP out of the ceiling either.

Apparently my kitten discovered a way up into the ceiling through one of the missing tile holes and was making himself at home up there. My mom and I heard a loud crash as he jumped out, but at the time we didn't know what it was. It was only later when he once again climbed up there that my sons saw a little kitty muzzle sticking out of the ceiling. Now that he knows he can get up there, there's no stopping him.

So before he DROPS down into the wall and we have to pry the paneling off to get him out, we need to go the store and buy some new panels. He's a sweet kitty, but he's not the brightest bulb in the lamp.

Brain cloud

I have been feeling very odd lately. Well, not just lately. I think ever since we got back from China, I haven't quite been able to get myself back on track. Writing, blogging, or in any other way.

You remember the movie "Joe Versus the Volcano" where Tom Hanks is told he has a brain cloud? [for those who don't, it's not a real thing - the doctor made it up to scare the character Joe - it's very convoluted - just go rent the movie]. That's how I feel. Like I have a brain cloud. Everything is just fuzzy and not quite right.

Even though my time spent online has greatly diminished, I don't feel like I've been getting much done around the house. I go though all the necessary motions, but I don't feel fully engaged in many of them. It's bizarre.

It's not depression. I've dealt with depression before and this isn't it.

Maybe I need a French word like malaise or ennui to describe it.

It's like there's this huge gap between all the things I really want to do and being able to summon the motivation to actually do them. Maybe I need to get more organized. Maybe I need more sleep. Exercise? That could be it.

See, this post is just like my brain right now. Random, scattered, disorganized, chaotic. Maybe I need a few days on a tropical island with orange-soda-drinking natives?

Overheard

I was in the bathroom last night and heard my sons outside the door having the following conversation:

Age 9: I'm going to freeze time!
Age 12: No, don't freeze time!
Age 9: Why not?
Age 12: Because Mommy's in the bathroom! And I have to go to the bathroom! If you freeze time, she'll never come out!

I guess with great power comes great responsibility.

DWTS meets BHB

If you are a Dancing With the Stars fan, or a Ballas Hough Band fan, or both, check this out! It's hilarious!
<a href="http://videoguide.msn.com/play/tv/?g=e7cc9a21-c1b9-45cf-9dcf-f984565dc61b&tab=NaN" target="_new" title="Exclusive: 'Do You Love Me' by Ballas Hough Band">Video: Exclusive: 'Do You Love Me' by Ballas Hough Band</a>

Day off

We're in a hotel in Pittsburgh right now. Hubby had his twice yearly committee meeting today, and we came along for fun. This hotel has a pool and will give us a late checkout of 2 p.m., so we can relax and swim and enjoy ourselves while he's doing his meeting thing.

And that's all from here. I'm gonna do some Facebooking.

Freebie resource!

One of my favorite things about the internet is the free stuff. If I added up the value of all the free stuff I've gotten just over the last year, it would be well into the hundreds of dollars. And my absolute favorite thing is when I find wonderful websites that share free stuff every day of the week.

Homeschool Freebie of the Day is one of those sites. They have offered e-books, audio recordings and printables that I have downloaded, used and loved. This weekend, for example, they are giving away a whole package about Paul Revere, celebrating the anniversary of his famous ride. You don't have to be a homeschooler to join their mailing list or download their resources. Just a parent who likes to share great stuff with her kids!

Click here to visit and get your free stuff!

Vroom!

The four year old spent a good part of the day Saturday either playing or watching his brothers play Cars on the Wii. It has several racing games where the characters from the movies run laps around tracks or around Radiator Springs, and it's very cute.

That night, I sat down to brush his teeth. This always takes way longer than in a four year old's opinion it should. After about a minute, he pushed my hand away and said, "Are we on the final lap yet?"

Now that's a big tv

We have snow this morning! Granted it's not much and it will be gone quickly, but what a nice surprise!

I got my tv back yesterday. Well, what we use for a tv is a projector and an approximately 100 inch screen. The projector (still under warranty) had a problem and was gone for about three weeks being repaired. It's amazing how much more interesting some shows are when they're life-sized. I especially love watching movies on there. It's like our own private theater.

So now that we've got our theater back, what are some good recent movies we might not have seen?

Semi-automatic clothes washing

Picture this: six people's worth of dirty laundry and a broken washer. What to do? Sure you could go to the laundromat, but where's the fun in that? Especially when you have small children and a bath tub.

Since I hadn't done the week's laundry yet when my washer broke down last Sunday, and since I didn't know when the part would come in, I threw a load in the tub with a scoop of detergent, a six year old and a nine year old. They swished the clothes all around and stomped on them a lot. We drained the dirty water (whether it was so dirty from the clothes or the feet I'm not sure) and filled the tub again. Rinse and repeat.

They had so much fun we did a second load. I tell you, I have never seen such disappointment as when the new part came in the mail and the washer got fixed. They were hoping it would never come. I think they would have happily done laundry every day. Now if only I could get them to be that excited about laundry done the regular way!

Well... that's a deep subject

What a fun Sunday we had here. (Notice the extreme sarcasm in that statement)

When we went to bed Saturday night, we had no water. So, bright and early Sunday morning, we set about pulling up our well pump. Yes, the one that's down in a 300+ foot-deep hole. We did this once before, right after we moved in, because the wires going down to the pump were bad. This time, it was the actual pump.

Of course, my hubby is a superman when it comes to doing anything around the house (in fact, that's his ringtone when he calls me - the theme from "Superman"), so he had the whole thing taken care of by 4 p.m. (With lots of help from his brother, who fortuitously happened to still be here when the water stopped and agreed to stick around and help - thanks, Mark!)

Then we had part 2 of our fun Sunday. The washing machine had been in the process of filling when the water stopped, so its valve was sitting open all night and the next day waiting for water. When the water finally came back on, the valve had been sitting open so long it stuck. Next thing we know, water is running out of the washer and all over the floor. Luckily, our 12-year-old saw it and hubby got it stopped before too long.

So now I'm without a washer while we wait for a part to come. And naturally I had only begun to do laundry when this happened. I think I'll save my solution to this for another post. And hopefully the part will be here tomorrow.

Yep, it was a fun Sunday.