08 July, 2010

Camping with a 5 year old - Fransted and the 4th of July

Well, we told you about our hairy visitor, but that wasn’t all we did.


There was a parade



A fair



And some general campiness.


We had a great time. The weather was perfect. I can’t remember the last time we camped without rain. We had chipmunks and gray squirrels that all fought for popcorn. And a very cagy red squirrel that placed popcorn in the branches of the trees surrounding the campsite. It looked like decorated Christmas trees. Spotty had us all playing his version of Hero’s of Might and Magic. Boy Toy was the shop keeper. Spotty and I battled goblins, serpents, pirates, ghosts and dragons.


Spotty still loves to camp and we still love to camp with him. Can’t wait for labor day!



I stole the photo format from a friend she told me she used this site.  I think it’s kinda cool.

06 July, 2010

The Other Day...I Met a...

Happy belated 4th! We were up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire camping, cauz that’s how we roll. We had gorgeous weather, fireworks, parades, a fair, river walking, stone tossing and…and unexpected guest.
Spotty Chop and I were reading Saturday morning (YODA in Action for the curious), Boy Toy was still asleep in the tent. I looked up. A 70 lb bear came walking into our site! I took Spotty off my lap and put him behind me. The bear tried to climb into the Jeep (we leave a door open when we camp so Spotty can go in and out of the car when he wants). I yelled at the bear. Clapped my hands, stomped my feet.

The bear just looked at me
He kept walking towards us. Got to about 6 feet away, tried to steal our trash bag (all it had was some fruit loops and remnants of Spotty’s baloney sandwich.) I chased it, yelling, clapping etc. (I wanted it away from Spotty) when from inside the tent I hear Boy Toy snarl “what the hell is your problem?” so I yell BEAR. Boy Toy was out of the tent faster than I have ever seen him move. He got it to leave. The bear was tricky and tried to circle around us and come into our site another way, but Boy Toy followed it around until it left.

We also made ice cream it was REALLY GOOD.

And how was your weekend?

03 July, 2010

Dear Spotty Chop you are 64 months today

You no longer give us any grief when you are brushing your teeth before bed. I wonder if it has anything to do with the MASSIVE water fights you and your father get into?


You got your first song stuck in your head. “doctor doctor give me the news….”


Your head is above water in the pool, even if you are flatfoot. I have seen you doing the deadman’s float as well as floating on your back when you think no one is watching.


You still love your Bakugon more than any other toy. You play with them for hours.


You told me you hate all that winter stuff. Except for Santa, you are ok with him.


We had another carnival in our town for a few nights. You went on the busy bears (some crazy spinny ride) all by yourself. You also went on the rollercoaster by yourself. The carnies put a younger boy in next to you. We watched as you kept an eye on him and made him laugh. You even tried to teach him to put his hands in the air.


Mantha started coming over on Thursday’s for the summer.. You couldn’t be happier. I think she is pretty excited too. She is trying to get a summer job but told them that Thursdays were not an option.


B52 is trying to figure out how to schedule in some swimming time with you. He misses you.


You have decided to start watching Chaotic again, you still love watching the Bakugon Battle Brawlers and Hot Wheels Battle Force 5.


We bought daddy Mario Galaxy for father’s day. You got to the same level as he did in a much shorter time. We were both pretty blown away by it.


I don’t think you look like boy toy or me, I just don’t see it. But I just took a picture of you and when I look at it, all I see is Papa.

You told me to take your rug, valence and quilt out of your room. You had it as a baby and you aren’t a baby. I thought (was hoping) you would be closer to 10 before you wanted things to change.


We went to the drive-ins to see Toy Story 3. You loved it. Your mom and dad cried.


We have literally spent 3 or 4 hours at a time in the pool. As soon as you are out you want to go back in.


Full of love for you baby!

02 July, 2010

Advantages of living after 50!

Ok – so I am not here YET…but damn if it aint coming soon!

another funny email that crossed my path


01. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

02. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

03. No one expects you to run--anywhere.

04. People call at 9 pm and ask, “did I wake you?"

05. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

06. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

07. Things you buy now won't wear out.

08. You can eat supper at 4 pm.

09. You can live without sex but not your glasses.

10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

11. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

13. You sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won't get much worse.

15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.

17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

19. You can't remember who sent you this list.

20.And you notice these are all in Big Print for your convenience.

01 July, 2010

Book Review: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson Book 4

Mercy has finally decided to become Adam’s mate and not Samuel’s and just when we were getting to the good part…up drives mom. Mom reads the newspaper, found out how her little girl was raped and almost killed. Drove immediately to the trailer to find out why the hell she didn’t call and let her know. She started to explain, but then Stephan ported in, all burnt to a crisp and managed to let her know that Marsilia knew that she had killed vampires. Adam had to call in the pack to help feed Stephan to save his undead life. If that weren’t enough the door rings again and Amber, Mercy’s college roommate stops by for the first time in 10 years to say her house was haunted and could Mercy help? So far we have almost had sex with a werewolf, vampire feedings and soon to be talking to ghosts. Now let’s talk about chapter two…

Marsilia the vampire queen is PISSED off and has marked Mercy for death. She is also tossing around a lot of magic that comes very close to killing lots of werewolves. Mercy decides that perhaps she should get out of town for a bit and see if Marsilia might calm down. So she heads to Spokane, an area that has only one vampire, no fae, no werewolves just a vampire that the other vampires call “the monster”. All Mercy needs to do is avoid his attention, which shouldn’t be hard, Washington is a big place. Mercy meets Amber’s husband Corban who’s a dick, her son Chad who’s deaf and a client of Corban’s. Any guesses as to who the client is? The ghost is trying to kill Chad. Corban doesn’t believe there is a ghost. Amber is a shell of a woman and Mercy is waking up with vampire bites on her neck.

After reading this book I realized that I have read just about everything that Patricia Briggs has done. I really enjoy her as an author. Her characters are fun. The women are strong. The worlds she writes about are interesting enough that I keep going back. She ain’t UBER AUTHOR status, but she crafts a fine tale. I wonder if she gets to pick out the cover art? I like her Mercy covers more than her Alpha & Omega covers.