Spin Cycle--Wishes...

So the Spin topic this week is wishes.
Wishes can be dangerous things.  A person can spend their whole life wishing for something else and miss what's right in front of them.  I've been working on having small wishes--those come true easier.

Wish on a shooting star.(image from Google)

I've also learned that you really have to express your wishes.  Keeping them to yourself means that the elves can't hear them--or your husband won't know that you really want something sparkly for your birthday. Mom won't know that you really want a certain video game, your wife won't know you really do want a tool for Christmas, and you son or daughter won't know that you want anything at all if you don't say it out loud.  Oh, I know they say not to tell your birthday wishes, or what you wish on a star, but if you don't tell it sometime the likelihood of it coming true is slim to none. (Unless you do it yourself and what fun is that?)

image from Google

Also, the caveat of be careful what you wish for rings true.  You might get it and it might not be what you expected--the sparkly thing could be ugly as sin.  It could be a really bad game, the wrong tool, or something completely useless.  Or you just may find that what you wished for is most definitely not what you wanted.

image from Google

Currently I'm wishing for good health, a brighter outlook, time, and a better appreciation of what I have.  Something sparkly wouldn't hurt either.  (Are you reading Nick?)
Go see Sprite's Keeper for more wish spins.

WWTK--Travel, First Kisses, and Guilty Pleasures

So linking up again for the We Want to Know Wednesday party again.  Shout outs to the lovely ladies who host this party:  Mamarazzi, Janette, Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn.




The questions this week come from Impulsive Addict:

1. What was the last thing you searched for online?  I searched for information about my sore throat.  I have had a sore throat since the beginning of June and I was pretty much done with not being able to swallow.  Not that the search did me much good, I ended up back at the doctor and was told it was all just allergy draining irritation.  Fun. (My throat is finally feeling better, but the allergies are still here--yuck)
2. If we visit your home state, what is one MUST we should do before leaving?  I grew up and still live in Wyoming.  Being outdoors is big here and there are many things that are worth doing in this state, but the one thing I think everyone must see at least once is Yellowstone.  I've been twice.  I want to go back and spend more time (both trips were rather rushed).  I really want to take both boys there and watch the geysers, and see the wildlife--wolves and buffalo and elk and moose and...--well for shear beauty, nothing beats Yellowstone.  There is a reason it was made the first national park.
3. What do you think Pharmaceutical companies should invent a pill for that isn't on the market yet?  Can they make a pill that imparts common sense to people.  If they could it might reduce the number of stupid people out there.  And there are some frighteningly stupid people.
4. When was your first kiss?  Was it good or bad?  First kiss?  I was 16 (yes, late bloomer, shy, nerdy bookworm and all that).  It was not really good and not really bad--just sort of was.  No fireworks and no ewww, just a kiss.  I've definitely had better and I've had worse.
5. What is your guilty pleasure TV show that you can not miss?  I don't really have a guilty pleasure TV show that I can not miss, but I love to catch Clean House when I can.  It always makes me feel better about my house because my house is never as bad as those houses.  The show I DVR is What Not to Wear.  I don't often make Nick sit through it but I love watching how they make over the schlumpy wrecks into beautiful people.  And I day dream about getting a makeover myself.

OK, go answer up the questions for yourself and join in--it's tons of fun!

Tuesday Random--Summer and Stuff

Time to carry the Random banner with Stacy.  Keep the random going!
Random musings:

• Why is it that when it's finally nice enough to be outside, the mosquitoes start hovering and you can't go outside without tons of bug spray?  I guess we are just lucky in the mosquitoes department.  The crazy little fiends are everywhere, hovering, waiting to drink you dry.
• How can you coax a small boy back inside after a long morning or afternoon outside?  Without the whole neighborhood thinking bloody murder is happening?  Because getting Bruiser inside is a chore and there are some days I just hate the inevitable fight bringing him in entails.
• Why are summer cherries so good, but so very expensive?  Along with every other summer fruit.   Expect watermelon, watermelon is still pretty cheap.
• Why doesn't is feel like summer until you've had meat grilled, cold watermelon, and cold beer after a hot day in the sun?  Ice cream too.  Some foods just scream summer.
• Why does meat taste better grilled?  Because any meat tastes better grilled.  Just like any food tastes better camping.  I have no idea why.
• Exactly how do you explain that a small boy must go to sleep when it's still light out?  I never really understood that one when I was a kid.  And small boys don't quite believe that their going to bed has a direct relationship to mom's sanity.
• I love summer here (except for the mosquitoes).  It is only getting to the lower 80s and dropping to the 40s at night.  The occasional thunderstorm, and otherwise lovely sunshine.  Got to enjoy the good weather while we have it as it doesn't stick around for very long.
• How come having one extra person around can throw a wrench in the morning routine?  (Sorry about this morning Nick.)

Well that covers the random questions I have floating around my head this morning.  Go see Stacy Uncorked and join up with your own random.

And So Monday Comes Again

How was your weekend?
Ours was eventful, but realxing.  And over way too soon.
Saturday Nick got the little four wheeler up and running for Turbo.  And it didn't cost that much to fix.  Nick was pretty jazzed.  So was Turbo.  And Turbo got on his old, smaller, bike and learned how to cost and how to start pedaling.  Nick and Turbo rode around the park three times on their bikes. 

No bike pictures, yet.

Now the reason this is so exciting for Nick is that he raced mountain bikes when he was a teenager.  In fact he was still racing when I met him.  He wanted nothing more that to have his son ride bikes with him.  I know he was disappointed that Turbo hadn't learned before this.  So now that Turbo has discovered the joy of riding a bike, Nick is one very thrilled dad.
In Bruiser news, the poor kid has been eaten alive by the hoards of little blood suckers the have invaded the area.  The mosquitoes are awful and poor Bruiser looks like he almost has the chicken pox--he has go so many bites.  Although we all sort of look like that.  Bruiser also had his first crash and skinned his knee pretty good.  A Scooby Doo band aid made it all better though.

Yeah, I'm a bucket head.

Just chillin'

Sunday we went out of town for a four wheeler ride.  It was lots of fun seeing Turbo on his little machine.  He did have a small accident--he wasn't watching where he was going and tumbled off the side.  Got himself a superman shaped scrape on his chest and a bruise on his shoulder.  I think Nick maybe lost a few years because he watched the crash, I was busy with Bruiser at the time.  Shook Turbo up but otherwise he's fine.
Then Sunday afternoon, we all got hit by the lethargy bug.  I napped, Nick napped, Bruiser napped, Turbo rested.  And nothing else got done. 

Even Scooby needs love.

 So, do tell what you did this weekend.  Next weekend will have lots of stories--we are going camping!

Confession is Good for Me--Right?

Friday and the thing to do is to confess.  Mamarazzi leads this revolution, feel good thing, party.   So confess away and join in.
I confess:

• Turbo is eight--8--and Tuesday night he admitted to having a crush on a girl in his class.  
• I'd be worried but he's still to shy to tell her about it.
• And I guess it healthy.
• But he's still my little baby boy.
• Although, my little boy admitted to having a crush on a girl in his class.
• When did he get old enough to know what a crush was?
• I did pretty good last weekend with the house chores.
• I'm going to play this weekend.
• Next weekend too.
• What with the Fourth of July coming up so quickly.
• Next week will be busy squeezing in all those weekend chores, but it'll make the time pass quickly.
• I'm a bit jealous of the MiMyMa Retreat.
• I'd love to meet lots of the wonderful friends I've made blogging.
• Someday.
• I've been sporting a new perfume.
• Eu de Bug Spray.
• The little blood suckers are hovering, hovering every time we go outside.
• Stinking mosquitoes.
• My allergies have been kicking my but--or my throat.
• I hate cottonwood trees.

So go confess and get it all out there.  You'll feel better, I know I do.

Spin Cycle: What are You Reading this Summer?

This weeks spin cycle assignment is Books!  More specifically what I'm reading and wanting to read this summer.
I am an avid reader.  from the time I was about 9 I could be found nose down in a book at any opportunity.  I was the classic bookworm.  I haunted the library at school and the county library and always had piles of books to read.
The topics are many and varied, I'll read anything that catches my interest and is well written.  I found my first adult romance book at the read and return at the library when I was maybe 13.  I had been devouring the teen romance at the school library and when I discovered adult romance and the s-e-x to be found there in, well I grabbed up as many as I could.  Most were awful, but some were not that bad.
I have been reading romance ever since--mostly historical but a few contemporaries thrown in for fun.  I also read mysteries, true crime, adventure novels, and humor books and a goodly amount of non fiction too.  But Romance will always be my first love (no pun intended).
Now to recommend a series of books for your summer reading pleasure. I recently found the author Zoe Archer and her Blades of the ROse quartet of books.  Warrior, Scoundrel, Rebel, and Stranger.  Each is a stand alone story, but the characters do show up in each book, some more than others.
Let's start with Warrior.  Think of these as a sort of Victorian Indiana Jones type of story.  Adventure, magic, and romance.  All the elements of a good time. 
Synopsis from Amazon:  The vicious attack Capt. Gabriel Huntley witnesses in a dark alley sparks a chain of events that will take him to the ends of the Earth and beyond - where what is real and what is imagined become terribly confused. And frankly, Huntley couldn't be more pleased. Intrigue, danger, and a beautiful woman in distress - just what he needs. Raised thousands of miles from England, Thalia Burgess is no typical Victorian lady. A good thing, because a proper lady would have no hope of recovering the priceless magical artifact Thalia is after. Huntley's assistance might come in handy, though she has to keep him in the dark. But this distractingly handsome soldier isn't easy to deceive... 
I started reading this when I was sick and the story was good enough to keep my admittedly poor concentration riveted.  I'm going back for a reread now that I'm feeling better and can focus more.


Scoundrel is the second book and was just as much fun as the first book.  Amazon synopsis:  London Harcourt's father is bent on subjugating the world's magic to British rule. But since London is a mere female, he hasn't bothered to tell her so. He's said only that he's leading a voyage to the Greek isles. No matter, after a smothering marriage and three years of straitlaced widowhood, London jumps at the opportunity - unfortunately, right into the arms of Bennett Day. Bennett is a ladies' man, when he's not dodging lethal attacks to protect the powers of the ancients from men like London's father. Sometimes, he's a ladies' man even when he is dodging them. But the minute he sees London he knows she will require his full attention. The woman is lovely, brilliant, and the only known speaker of a dialect of ancient Greek that holds the key to calling down the wrath of the gods. Bennett will be risking his life again - but around London, what really worries him is the danger to his heart... 
Rebel is the next in the series.  Amazon synopsis:  Nathan Lesperance is used to being different. He's the first Native attorney in Vancouver, and welcome neither with white society nor his sometime tribe. Not to mention the powerful wildness he's always felt inside him, too dangerous to set free. Then he met Astrid Bramfield and saw his like within her piercing eyes. Now, unless she helps him through the harsh terrain and the harsher unknowns of his true abilities, it could very well get him killed...Astrid has traveled this path before. Once she was a Blade of the Rose, protecting the world's magic from unscrupulous men, with her husband by her side. But she's loved and lost, and as a world-class frontierswoman, she knows all about survival. Nathan's searing gaze and long, lean muscles mean nothing but trouble. Yet something has ignited a forgotten flame inside her: a burning need for adventure, for life - and perhaps even for love...
And the last of the series (hopefully, so far) is Stranger.  Amazon Synopsis: Gemma Murphy has a nose for a story - even if the boys in Chicago's newsrooms would rather focus on her chest. So when she runs into a handsome man of mystery discussing how to save the world from fancy-pants Brit conspirators, she's sensing a scoop. Especially when he mentions there's magic involved. Of course, getting him on the record would be easier if he hadn't caught her eavesdropping...Catullus Graves knows what it's like to be shut out: his ancestors were slaves. And he's a genius inventor with appropriately eccentric habits, so even people who love him find him a little odd. But after meeting a certain redheaded scribbler, he's thinking of other types of science. Inconvenient, given that he needs to focus on preventing the end of the world as we know it. But with Gemma's insatiable curiosity sparking Catullus' inventive impulses, they might set off something explosive anyway...
I really enjoyed these books.  There was a  wonderful mix of adventure, magic and romance that kept me turning the pages until way too late at night.

I really read all of these in one week and thoroughly enjoyed all of them.  To me the hallmark of a truly great book is the desire to go back and reread.  And I do want to go back to these stories when I get the time to enjoy them all over again.
So there you have it, four books that I heartily recommend for summer reading.
And in the spirit of full disclosure the links take you to Amazon, where if you buy, I get a few pennies of the purchase too.  So if you feel moved, buy!
Now go see Sprite's Keeper for more spins on summer reading.

WWTK--Pick-up Lines, Guilty Pleasures and Such

Time once again to do the We Want To Know thing with the lovely hostesses--Mamarazzi, Janette, Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn.
Click on the link and go see all the lovely ladies and their answers.  It lets you be a bit nosy, it's fun.

Questions this week come from Seriously Shawn:

1. What is the best, or worst, pick up line you have ever been given?  It's been so long since I've been in a position to get a pick up line, but I do remember the one that Nick used in German class--So, when are you going to cook me dinner?  And yes it worked.  I responded that I lived in the dorms, if he could stand microwaved mac-n-cheese, then we were all set. 
2. What is your most and least favorite day of the week?  I love Saturdays.  A whole day where we can make our own plans, do nothing or be as industrious as we want.  Saturdays have so much promise.  The day I hate--Tuesdays.  It's not a Monday (which aren't my favorite either) and it's not close enough to the weekend to have any redeeming qualities.  It's a sort of non-day and I drag through them most of the time.
3. How many hours of sleep do you require each night?  To function coherently I need around 7.5-8 hours of sleep a night.  Usually bed around 10:00-10:30 and up at 6:00.  Not my preferred schedule but if I'm not up early, no one else is up at all.
4. Is there a song that takes you back in time? What is it and what memory is it attached to?  There are a lot of snogs that I listen to and they take me back to high school or college.  Memories float along with the notes every time I hear them.  The most fun one is attached to Devo's Whip It.  The first time I heard that song was the first summer I knew Nick.  I was down in Laramie visiting him after the school year had ended and we got to his place and his roommate had gone hit a yard sale that morning and found a Devo record.  As we walked into the living room he was standing by the stereo and bouncing along to Whip It and singing along too.  I had never heard that song and that image is indelibly tied to that song now.   I always smile about that image when ever I hear even a bit of Whip It.
5. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?  Oh, I have lots of guilty pleasures.  There are TV guilty pleasures, reading guilty pleasures, eating guilty pleasures, but the biggest guilty pleasure I have right now has go to be ice cream after the boys go to bed--so I don't have to share.  Butter pecan, Rocky Road, strawberry, mint chip, doesn't matter, as long as I don't have to share.

Now go link up your answers and find out what everyone else said--go on go!

Tuesday Randomness

So it's come around to Tuesday again.  Funny how it always comes round to Tuesday week after week.  you'd think it was a pattern or something.
so let's do the random thing with Stacy, since Keely has not taken back the mantle of Random Tuesday queen.

• Bruiser has become obsessed with throwing balls around.  We really have to make sure he has a soft ball to throw.  I've been nailed by a hard rubber ball more then once.  The kid has quite the arm--no control, but a good arm none the less.
• While I said Turbo learned to ride his bike on Sunday, he still has a bit of refining to do before he can be let loose without one of us along.  Starting and stopping are very important things to learn.  He is getting there.
• On a sadder note, the swings are missing from our park.  This is sad because when they put a new playground in our closest park they did not put the normal play equipment.  They put up what looks like modern art that older kids---Turbo's age--can climb on, but nothing for smaller kids to do except swing.  And now the swings are gone.  Great.  Guess we will be going farther a field for park fun.
• Today is the first day of summer.  Also, it's Nick birthday.  I never forget the first day of summer and neither does his mom.  AND he gets a reason to celebrate the longest day of the year.

Love you hon!

•  And the allergies have come to visit.  I really wish they had skipped out on me this year, but no, they had to come and bring the eye gooeyness too.  Such fun.

Well that covers my random for this week.  Go see Stacy--she of the random rebellion--and link up your random.

So Much to do, and Some Time to do it!

So we have had a wonderful weekend.  There was some snow gawking, laundry, bike riding and storms.  And some how we managed to fit a very nice Father's Day in there, too.
To start the weekend off, Nick took his folks up the mountain to gawk at the snow up there.  Nick and I and the boys went last Tuesday.  If we had had a bigger car that would have fit us all, Bruiser and I would have gone too, but since we don't, I stayed here with Bruiser and did the grocery shopping and laundry.
Here are some pictures of the snow we saw on Tuesday:

Turbo and Bruiser checking out the snow.

Behind this snow bank stands an outhouse.  I swear!

Nick did a bit of snow carving.

Our car for scale.

Some poor lost skier. (Someone got a bit creative.)

Then Sunday, we let Nick sleep in, I made from scratch blueberry muffins, and then we geared up and headed to the park.  It was time once again for Turbo to do battle with the Bike.  As is fitting for Father's Day, Turbo won the battle and actually rode with out help for several laps around the tennis court.  Nick could not have been prouder.  Then on what would be his last circuit, he crashed into one of the posts holding up the net.  So he rode his bike and crashed all in the same day.  He did get back on and rode home with help from Nick.  So triumph and crash all in the space of about 10 minutes.
Then in the afternoon, we were all settling down for a rest and the weather kicked up and gave us a lovely thunder storm.  Thunder storms can be a fun to watch, but we don't really like the close strikes.  And yesterday we got a strike that came entirely too close.  It hit a tree at the house across the street.  you know it's too close when the light and the sound come at the same time.  Our neighbor was just getting home when it hit. Some excitement in the neighborhood!  There was damage to the tree--a scar about 12 feet long in the bark--and you could see the area of grass that was torn up.  A poor squirrel got fried and there was damage to the base of the stop sign.  We think the neighbors lost their TV, but full damage reports are slim right now. We were lucky and nothing was damaged at our house.
Later we had Nick folks over for dinner and had a very nice time.  Grilled chicken salads were quite tasty.  We watched a movie and then they headed home.
And the perfect topper to the weekend was getting to talk to a good friend on the phone.  Hi Stacy!
So, we had a good weekend all around, did you?

Time to Confess It All

So, it's Friday and that is the best day of the week.  Well actually Friday at about going home time is the best time of the week.  But Friday is a great day all the way around--we get to confess our secrets with Mamarazzi!
And here goes:

• I used Nads Wax Strips and I love them. (The link takes you to them on Amazon) 
• I have to say they worked great.  
• Smooth legs and no mess or fuss about it.
• It did hurt a bit, but not as much as the Sally Hansen strips did.
• I found out I have an allergy to penicillin.
• I have been itching madly for the last week.
• My house is a disaster.
• I'd really rather ignore it than start cleaning up.
• However the stores of underwear are running low and I'm starting to think the floor in the living room is carpeted with dog hair, cat hair and Bruiser's toys.
• Clearly something must be done.
• So laundry ho!
• I'm going to get personal with the vacuum cleaner and maybe find the floor again.
• I hate the floor in my kitchen.
• there is no getting it to look clean.
• It's a nasty patterned linoleum tile.
• I'm just waiting for the day when I get a new floor in there.
• I live with a nudist.
• He's only two, but still.
• The kid would shed his clothes at any opportunity.
• But then he's pretty cute.

OK, your turn.  Confess it up, link it up, and go see the other confessions.

Spin Cycle--UFOs and Such

The Spin Cycle is all about UFOs this week.
Do you believe in unidentified flying saucers? Aliens? The unexplained?
Have you seen them? Met them? Been abducted? (No judgement here! We're here to listen!)
Do you think it's nothing but hogwash, a distraction made up by the US government in an attempt to cover up their own sinister experiments?
I have never been abducted by aliens, nor really had an Encounter.  I may have seen something, but it was a long way away and I'm not sure it wasn't something natural.
I was driving home from college--a five hour drive at the time, all in one state, wide open spaces and all that--and as I was heading north on the interstate off to the left toward the mountains (which I could not see as it was dark out at the time) I saw an oval shaped light just above the horizon.  It was a white light and just sort of appeared out of nowhere.  Now, you need to know that there were no towns in that direction, only mountains, and the only other light was from cars and trucks on the interstate.
The light was so far away that it looked very tiny.  It hovered for a moment and then went straight down behind the horizon and disappeared.  It was weird.  I'm not positive that it was a UFO, but it was something.  And that is my only encounter with something odd.
Now I really think that as vast as the universe is, it's conceited to think we are the only life out there.  However, I'm not sure that earth is an attractive stopping point in the universe.  I did know a psychology professor who wrote a book on alien abductions.  He was a bit kooky, but always fun to talk to.
Now go see Jen at Sprite's Keeper for more UFO spins.

Wednesday--Nosey Question Time

This week's questions are from Mamarazzi. Here is what she wants to know...

{1} You have been asked to give a 10 minute speech to teenage girls. What is it about?  I would hate to actually have to do this, but I think my topic would be something along the lines of high school does not last forever and who and what you are there will have little or no bearing on who you are later, unless you let it.

{2} Do you have a pet? Tell us about them. No pets? Why?  We have a cat and a dog.  I have briefly described them in the side bar.  I'm a cat person and Nick is a dog person.   We will always have at least one of each.  Guiness is a collie mutt--mostly collie with a couple of other things thrown in for good measure.  He hates it when we are not all together and will split the difference between floors of the house so he can keep an eye on all of us.  He has arthritis in his hip and doesn't get around quite like he used to, but then he's 10 and a half.  Piper is our cat and she is very much a cat.  Petting on her terms, out when she wants out and leave her alone when she wants left alone.

{3} What is the biggest inconvenience about the place you’re currently living?  Space.  I wish the yard were just a bit bigger.  Nick would love to have the house be just a bit bigger too.  Our location is wonderful, we are within walking distance of downtown, a block from a park, and we can ride our bikes to work.  I do sometimes wish we had a big back yard, but I love our house.

{4} What do you think is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?  By far it was going on that first date with Nick.  It was 18 years ago when we met in German class in college and we have been together ever since.
{5} What are the THREE "nevers" of your life? (things you would never do or have never done)  

1. I have never gone sky diving.  I have absolutely no urge to jump out of a perfectly good air plane.
2. I have never gotten a passport.  When I was 13 months old my mom took me to England.  I remember nothing about the trip.  and since then I have not needed  passport.  Soon I think I will have to get one, but haven't needed one yet. 
3. I have never eaten sushi.  I live entirely too far from the ocean (in Wyoming) for sushi to be as fresh and good as it can be.  I'm a little leery of raw fish.

Q2 is brought to us by McKenzie

Q4 is brought to us by DateGirl

We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A is hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn

Go link up and join the fun, and be a bit nosy and see how others answered the questions.