Book Club

Last month we discussed The Photograph (link here) and Tuesday night we'll be discussing I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith (link here). Dodie Smith was born in England in 1896 and is probably more famous for writing 101 Dalmations than any of her adult pieces.

I joined my book club for many reasons but one was so that I would get better at dissecting written works. I am a very concrete thinker and typically follow the plot in a 'find out what happens' sort of way. Often 'what happens' has nothing to do with what the author is writing about.

I am hosting Tuesday night's discussion and admit that although I feel much more confident than I did when I first joined the club, I am a bit out of my league with this story. It takes place during the 30's in England and involves many elements of particularly British societal issues, issues of which I know little. Fortunately I do not have to present my own analysis but rather stimulate the conversation with well placed questions. Two of my clubbers have actually lived in England for some period of time and one new member is a retired literature professor so I know I'll get lots of help!

I wish my sister lived closer and could be in my book club too. Her analytical mind and former job as an English teacher would help me so much!

Last Weekend In Athens

Anyone reading this knows we went to Athens last weekend instead of them trying to drive here. Here a few pictures and videos.

Cyrus was eating blueberries - can ya tell?

Clean face, blue ghost.

I love how Cyrus says, "Want some":

Cyrus crawled under the 'rainbow' to hang out with Kai. Two cute little smiling boys.

Still lookin' blue at this point.

He may be only two years old but already he has a great sense of humor. Here I was asking him to smile but all he would do is this wide-eyed expression and then laugh about it!

Cyrus joined Kai under the rainbow and seemed mesmerized for a while. (Notice how he always finds a way to be touching Kai.) When he finally snapped back to silly mode he imitated Kai's pumping legs and tightly clenched fists.:


Where Daddy doh?:



If only Kai knew how sweet those kisses are (I think Cyrus got slopped on!) He corrects me after I say that he's a big boy by saying that Cyrus is little.:



As Shirin blogged, Kai had a bit of the snuffles and I wished I could've cleared his throat for him, but there are two moments in this video that look like he's trying to talk:



Saeed bought Cyrus some animals that Shirin blogged about. Here he is moving them from one side of the room to the other, one by one. I love those little chubby legs stomping back and forth.:

2 Great Animal Videos

Pics

I got a really good pic of Cyrus and Kai this weekend but it's still in my camera. It's frustrating that I can't find the time to do my blog like I used to, but I plan to devote a bit of time to sorting through my pictures this weekend... I hope.

Love NPR

As if their news isn't already the best on the planet NPR recently posted a game called "Name That Crime." I've cut and paste the game and the answers people wrote in below, but then there's a link to the actual news story. Turns out this elegant lady performed her crime in Spartenburg, SC. I think this state provides more fodder for embarrassing news stories than any other.

From NPR.org:

"This woman was arrested for a crime that involved hiding something in her pants. Best guess as to the alleged crime, and what was hidden in said pants, wins.
Winner gets fame, fortune, and a mention in this week's credits.*
*Fame and fortune not actually included.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Once again, you guys made it really hard to pick. A few of our favorites:

• Scott Gabree: Not wanting to pay for two tickets to see Grown Ups on the big screen, she hid her daughter in her pants and attempted to shuffle by the attendant. The daughter, not to be outdone, filled her pants with cheaper candy from across the street. Both attempts were unsuccessful.
• Beth Coffey: She had an entire spiraled cut ham in her pants..Non-spiraled tends to chafe when you walk.
• Gwendolyn Murray: Matt Damon.
• Cody Roach: Local authorities were surprised to find yet another Russian spy ring hidden in a Ohio woman's pants yesterday. The FBI claims they had been in "deep cover" for over 10 years.
• Brian Jolley: We know it wasn't a comb.
• Mary Borer: Now we know where Waldo's been all this time.
• Timmon Pham: Inside her pants is a smaller person who looks just like her,
  and inside that person's pants is a even smaller version of her,
  and inside it's pants is an even smaller version of her,
  and inside it's pants is an even smaller version.
  and so on and so on.

And a few of you sent in the real story, involving, of course, a sandwich. Peter will announce the winner in this weekend's credits."

Thanks NPR. (I love the guy who said  "We know it wasn't a comb"!)

Big Talk

For all my big talk about working on the house and starting to paint the living room I just couldn't do it yesterday. We worked on the house non-stop all last weekend and then after a week at work I just couldn't make myself do it and went on strike. Fortunately I am married to someone who understands that feeling and didn't press. In fact I couldn't make myself do anything; I petted kitties, went back and read old emails that I kept skipping because I didn't have time to read them when they arrived, organized and alphabetized my books, found a great yoga website, and so on. I didn't exercise, I didn't do laundry, I didn't buy the baby shower gift I'll need for tomorrow, didn't prepare any food, and I didn't paint. I'll pay for some of those didn'ts this week but that's the way it goes. As one of the lines in my email signature says, I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. Ain't that the truth.

Blinded By Humidity

It's been an unusually hot summer for us. Our near daily afternoon storms keep the humidity high and make me feel like I live in the tropics. Strangely, I love it. If you wear glasses, however, and leave an air conditioned car or house the change can be so drastic that your lenses will fog up and leave you blind.

How humid is it? It's so humid I saw a squirrel blowing on his nuts to keep them dry and cool. Love those southern expressions.

Saving Lives

Although I was part of the crew that performed emergency aid on a patient in the office yesterday who passed out and hit the floor (I was able to break her fall) and seized several times during a serious asthma attack, I am actually saving a lot more turtles than people this summer. We have a bumper crop of cute box turtles with bright orange eyes in our neighborhood and they all seem to want to cross the street. Why? And don't say to get to the other side, although assuredly that's what they're doing since there's a creek at the edge of our subdivision. I saved a fourth turtle today who was just chillin' in the middle of busy Twin Lakes Road. Crazy little ectotherms.

Progress

We've been working on the house nearly nonstop this weekend. We now have three new 'medicine' cabinets installed in two bathrooms, pictures hanging on the walls, the CDs have been moved to their new location (still needing to be organized - right now Mozart's hangin' out with the Beatles), videos and DVDs culled and organized, the area we call the 'white desk' in the kitchen which has several shelves and cubbyholes has been reorganized/redecorated, and now I'm about to begin actually cleaning the house. There is still much more to do (towel bars and curtains for example) and since we fired our previous cleaning help (they didn't clean very well and almost let the cats out) we also need to find someone to clean this monstrosity. One day it is my dream to blog properly again, of babies and lizards and cats.

Sorry Ya'll...

... still working on the house.