Cape Cod Vacation, Part 2 of 2

Here's how we spent the final days of our vacation two weeks ago...

Thursday, August 7th
Three new arrivals came to visit for two days and a night: my sister Jennifer, her daughter Hayley, and Hayley's friend Emily, who we've known since she and Hayley were young kids. We all went to Hyannis, the next town over from ours, famous for being home to one of the Kennedy family compounds. It has a really nice main street with unique shops and restaurants and outdoor cafes. We also went on a short tour at the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory to see how potato chips are made, and we got free little bags of chips at the end. Yum! Free, freshly made chips are always good!

The Cape has playgrounds too...

Hanging out in Hyannis. This would have been a nice family picture if only Peter weren't hiding behind John's head!

The flowers in front of the library were lovely.

I like classic, authentic Cape Cod clapboard houses and buildings.

Hayley and John in the car

In the evening, my mom, Jennifer, and I went out and did the coolest thing and by far my most favorite thing of the whole week. We went to the immaculately maintained old town of Barnstable for a Haunted History Tour. It was excellent! I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it. It was from about 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., and it was led by members of the Cape and Islands Paranormal Research Society (http://www.caiprs.com/). In fact, the man who led the tour is good friends with Jason from one of my favorite shows, Ghost Hunters. The tour was the perfect blend of history and actual ghost stories, which makes sense, since hauntings are usually intertwined with the history of the place where the haunting occurs. We had a few very interesting experiences. I won't go into them here, but suffice it to say that I was more spooked than I've been in a long time! I'm definitely planning on doing this again next year!

The tour guide dressed in a colonial cape and hat. This was the first stop. This place is haunted! Among other things, the lights go on and off at random. The people who work there have actually seen the light switch flip up and down on its own.

The Crocker Tavern House, which dates back to the 1700s. This house is now in operation as a vacation rental, which is cool, but I'd be nervous to stay here given the weird things that happen in the house to this very day.

A creepy graveyard we spent some time in, haunted by two spirits. One is a little girl (we saw her grave) and the other is a big, dark, brooding type of entity that frightens even some professional paranormal researchers.
I wish I had more pictures, but it got dark out. There were several stops, and the last place we walked to was "The House of Eleven Ghosts," the Cape's most haunted house. It was really creepy, and really cool.

Friday, August 8th
We spent most of the day at Provincetown, which is up at the tip of the Cape. It's where the Mayflower first landed before landing for good at Plymouth. P-Town, as it's known, is a really unique place. It has tons of cool shops, and it's a really liberal, alternative kind of town despite being so old and historic. The thing that makes it really distinctive is that it's become a mecca for the gay community, which makes for some rather interesting sightseeing.

Hayley and John at a lookout point in Provincetown.

The view was so beautiful! I like how you can see the shadows of the clouds on the trees.
Trees, sand dunes, ocean

I feel guilty looking at this picture. Poor John didn't have his sunglasses, and it was bright up there!

John wants down...

...so we put him down

Another rocky beach, another opportunity to throw rocks in the water!
This looks more like a chunk of asphalt than a rock!

Jennifer and Mom

What would a summer outing be without ice cream? John ran around and frolicked without his shorts on in front of the Pilgrim Memorial. Hey, it's P-Town, so it's cool.
Jennifer, Emily, Hayley, and Mom
The Pilgrim Memorial tower

Can you spy John Howland and the Tilly names? Peter and John are their direct descendants.
Saturday, August 9th
My mom and I went out for a nice morning drive through some of the nearby towns. We went to the Sydenstricker Gallery (http://www.sydenstricker.com/) in Brewster, where she bought me a nice dish to add to my collection for my birthday.

When we got home, it was time to pack up, clean the house, and go. I was sad to leave, for two reasons. One, it was the end of vacation. Two, it was our last time in the house we've stayed at for the past four years. It's owned by friends of ours from my old ward in Mass., and they just sold it because they're moving to Utah. I'm going to miss it. We've had a lot of fun times there over the years, and it had a good location on the Cape and near the beach, and it had a wonderful hammock in the backyard that we all fought over. Next summer, we'll find another house to rent and maybe try out a new town, until someday we can afford to buy our own house on the Cape. Now that would be a dream come true! (Hint, hint for future birthday ideas, Peter!)

The temptation of jumping on a just-made bed was just too great...

Farewell, living room and kitchen
I'm going to miss this cute little house!

Peter's favorite place

Johnny and I out at lunch before leaving
Cape Cod is a wonderful summer vacation spot, and we had a great week there!

Obama-Biden: First Impressions

I think Obama's choice of Senator Joseph Biden for his running mate is a good one. Biden has a lot of experience in politics, particulary in international matters, which Obama needs. In short, Biden is older, he's white, he's from the East Coast, and he's experienced, which balances the ticket pretty nicely. I wasn't particularly impressed with him when he was running for President, but I can't argue with what seems to be his good experience. I'll be curious to find out more about him in the coming weeks and months leading up to the election. I'm still not planning on voting for Obama, but having Biden on there makes me a little bit more likely to, and if/when Obama does win, maybe I'll feel better about it with Biden as the Vice President.

Cape Cod Vacation, Part 1 of 2

We went on our annual vacation to Cape Cod from August 2nd to 9th. As always, we had a very nice week there. It was our fourth year in a row vacationing at the Cape. We started doing it when John was a cute, chubby little 5-month-old baby and we had to drive all the way up from New Jersey. It's a place that we love, and I can't wait to go back again next year.

Saturday, August 2nd
We got a late start because we spent the morning picking up my new car at the dealership, something that Peter surprised me with just the night before. Then we had to go home and load it up with our things. It's much easier to pack up an SUV than a sedan! I was so happy with the Highlander that I didn't even care that we were running as late as we were and that we totally got stuck in traffic headed into the Cape. Hey, just more time to bond with my new friend.

Sunday, August 3rd
We went to church in the morning at the branch on the Cape, which was really nice. Then we spent a pleasant, peaceful day at home, resting, reading, and napping. The weather was gorgeous. Later in the day, we walked to the beach, which is only about five minutes down the road. John loves to throw rocks in the water, so he had a blast doing that.


Getting ready to launch a rock into the ocean. This kid has a pretty good arm!

My little Baywatch hunk, running along the beach

My sister Elizabeth and her boyfriend Justin stayed with us over the weekend. John and Justin are good buddies, and John was sad when Justin had to leave.

Monday, August 4th
We went up to Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire for the day. Peter and I had been there in June, and my family used to go when we were younger. Because of the SUV, we were all able to fit into one car, which was very convenient! (It was me, Peter, John, my mom, Elizabeth, and my neice Hayley, who we picked up at her house.) It was a fun day!

John was sleepy when we arrived, so he wasn't too into the rides until later on after dinner, when he got a second wind and had a lot more fun. These pictures are taken earlier when he was tired. I couldn't take more pictures later because my camera's battery died.



I like this picture of Peter and John relaxing on the grass.

What the heck?! We traveled all that way and spent all that money, and he has the most fun running around and around this tree. It figures!
Tuesday, August 5th
We went out to breakfast with my mom and Elizabeth at The Pancake Man, a favorite place of my family's. I got dee-lish French Toast topped with strawberries and whipped cream. In the afternoon we went to the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis (we go there at least once every vacation), where John actually liked the carousel this year. Last year, he hated it and screamed and cried when I took him on it. I wish I had a picture of him on it this year, but I hadn't recharged my camera battery yet, so I have no pictures of this day. Peter and I went out to dinner in the evening and we had a nice time. The place we went had really good clam chowder and lobster, and good dessert too.

Wednesday, August 6th
Today we drove up to Boston and went to the Science Museum. It was a good day to do it because the weather was cool and rainy. The Science Museum was fantastic and we really enjoyed it. Its only downside was the big crowds, which is typical of many things in Boston. But the Museum is huge, so the crowds didn't seem as bad as they really were (except at lunchtime, which was a complete zoo!).

Fun with magnets

John found his beloved planets!

He wanted to climb right up on this bear. It's funny how you can see my mom on the right rushing over to stop him from doing so!

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., had a really nice, big temporary exhibit at the museum of all sorts of awesome baseball memorabilia.
Are we looking at a future baseball star here? I hope so!
One big grasshopper...

A nice view of Boston from where we were parked at the Museum.

That evening, back on the Cape, Peter and I went out to dinner and a movie. We saw The Dark Knight, which was very good.

Stay tuned for the rest of the week, which I'll be posting soon. It involves the coolest thing I've probably ever done on the Cape, as well as one, uh, interesting town that we went to!

The Definition of Excellence

Michael Phelps is an amazing athlete. I really enjoyed watching him swim his way into history last week with eight gold medal wins at the Olympics. What an inspiration!

Just for Fun

My friend Katie e-mailed this to me today. I'm posting my responses here for fun...

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:10 a.m.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Both, but not together.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Dark Knight
4. What is your favorite TV show? My favorite classics are The Cosby Show, Dr. Quinn, and Murder, She Wrote (don't laugh!). My favorite current ones are probably Ghost Hunters and The O'Reilly Factor.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Cereal
6. What is your middle name? Josaleen
7. What food do you dislike? Veal, lamb, duck, and other weird meats like that
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? They Might Be Giants "Here Come the 123's." It's John's CD, but those songs are really catchy and fun! I love it!
9. What kind of car do you drive? A Toyota...Highlander! Brand-new, 2008, silver. I just got it 10 days ago. I'm in love with it.
10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey sub with provolone cheese and tomato and lettuce and mayo with a little bit of oil
11. What characteristic do you despise? Intentional rudeness
12. Favorite item of clothing? My skirt collection
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy or Hawaii. If I had to choose one, Hawaii. I love tropical islands.
14. Where would you retire? Massachusetts, because I love it more than any tropical island. I'd spend most of the winters on an island or someplace warm in the U.S., though. The older I get, the less I like winter, so at that rate by the time I'm at retirement age I'll probably totally despise winter.
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 28th (it was less than two weeks ago) because Peter totally surprised me by buying me a new car the day after my birthday. I'm a hard person to surprise, and Peter is usually unsuccessful at hiding things effectively, so the fact that I was so surprised made it very memorable. That, and the new car itself.
16. Furthest place you are sending this? It's on the world-wide web, so anywhere!
17. Person you expect to send it back first? Umm, doesn't apply. If I were e-mailing it, Amy or Alyson.
18. When is your birthday? July 31st
19. Morning person or night person? Both. I prefer being an early riser though. I feel like I do so much more with my day that way (as long as I wasn't a night owl the night before).
20. What is your shoe size? 8
21. Pets? My dog Christy and my two cats, Brody and Bentwood
22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? My new car! (Did I mention that yet?). My younger sister shared some exciting news last week, but I'm not allowed to talk yet. I've probably already said too much!
23. What did you want to be when you were little? A ballerina
24. How are you today? Good, calm, peaceful, happy
25. What is your favorite flower? Roses, especially pale pink roses
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? This Friday, August 15th. I'm going back to New York City for the first time in years for a good friend's wedding. I've missed that city, and that friend, a lot.
27. What are you listening to right now? The Red Sox game. The Sox are killing the Texas Rangers, 10-2 in the 2nd inning. Yes!!
28. Do you wish on stars? Yes, I've done that for years when walking my dog at night. It's a natural thing to do when you look up and try to find the constellations.
29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Forest green
30. How is the weather right now? Beautiful and mild
31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Petechuck. "When are you coming home?"
32. Favorite soft drink? Sprite
33. Favorite restaurant? Chain: The Cheesecake Factory. Independent: The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Mass.
34. Hair color? Blond. I'm a natural blonde, though it's now a dark blond and is no longer the white blond of my youth, unless I get it highlighted, which I've been doing more often.
35. What was your favorite toy as a child? My dolls and Barbies. I was such a girly girl.
36. Summer or winter? Most definitely summer
37. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla cake, french vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate everything else
38. Coffee or tea? Herbal tea and hot chocolate
39. Do you want your friends to email you back? I just hope my friends are reading this
40. When was the last time you cried? Ummm...Sunday, August 3rd, while vacationing at Cape Cod. It was my mother's fault!
41. What is under your bed? A massaging bedrest from Brookstone that Peter got me for Christmas last year.
42. What did you do last night? Baked brownies (I was craving brownie batter), worked on my blog, watched the Olympics, got caught up on reading the local newspaper (The Hartford Courant).
43. What are you afraid of? John or Peter dying. Getting cancer. Having someone break into our house and attack us. Getting into a serious car accident.
44. Salty or sweet? Sweet
45. How many keys on your key ring? Two or three
46. How many years at your current job? Mother: three. Freelance copyeditor: About two.
47. Favorite day of the week? I like the quiet orderliness of the mid-week days.
48. Do you make friends easily? Yes, but not close friends as easily.
49. How many people will you send this to? It's on my blog, so hello world!
50. How many will respond? Maybe one or two kind souls will leave a comment.
51. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yes. For some reason I find it interesting to know these little details about people.

Whew!

Okay, I just spent over an hour changing the look of this blog around. I found a few backgrounds that I really liked on "The Cutest Blog on the Block," but they wouldn't upload properly, so I used this one instead from another site. I like it, though not as much as some of the other ones, and not as much as my old one. But it will suffice and I think it looks nice enough. Thank you for your help, Alyson and Jessie (and Shandi!). Now it's time to move on!

I love this picture. Reading a good book outside in pleasant weather is one of the best things in life. I created a special spot in my backyard under the trees and off to the side, with a wonderfully comfortable lounge chair just for this purpose. Now I need to use it more often before the mild weather goes away. This picture inspires me to do so!

Back from Vacation

We had a great time at Cape Cod last week and we got back yesterday evening. It's sad that summer is almost over, but I'm glad to be back home again, relaxed and rested and ready to live real life again.

I'll write about the Cape later this week. I wanted to write my July Month-in-Review before leaving but things got too busy, so I'm going to try and finish that up soon. I like having those month-by-month happenings of my little life to look back on and read. There are actually a lot of things I want to write about right now, and I hope I can find the time to do it all this month!

I was bummed to see that my blog background had turned to mush while I was away. I loved that background! Stupid Photobucket! (since it looks like it's their fault.) Can anyone give me some good websites or resources that have cute, simple backgrounds to download that won't lose everything on your blog? I don't like this plain white background and I don't have the savvy or the time to figure out how to make it nice again without some help. Somebody, anybody? Please help me!

The Amazing Watermelon Days of Summer

Thank goodness for watermelon! Because of its sweet and juicy influence, John has grown to really like eating different types of fruit this summer. He's now a fan of pineapple, melon, cantaloupe, blueberries, papaya, and kiwi, along with his old favorites bananas and grapes. But he continues to love watermelon more than just about anything else!

We both enjoy our watermelon photo sessions. He gets watermelon, and I get fun pictures!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official: I'm now 28 years old. It must be true because my Blogger profile says so, having magically updated my age when the clock struck midnight last night. It's weird, because I don't feel at all like a 28-year-old. For years I've felt like I'm 24. I don't know what it is about 24, but that's what I feel like I am.

It's been a nice day. In the morning while John was at camp, I got a F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S "ultimate" pedicure and manicure that included a 5-minute chair massage. It was all really relaxing and left my feet and fingers looking lovely. After that I got a glazed donut at Dunkin' Donuts (one of my longtime guilty pleasures. Those things are dang good!). I'm also wearing a special birthday outfit (nope, not my birthday suit. Ha ha): a new skirt that I've coveted for a few years (I finally bought it this month when it went on sale), with a new pima cotton shirt in a pretty shade of blue. In the afternoon I took time to read my book and relax out on the patio as I sipped a freshly made banana-blueberry smoothie. Tonight I'm ordering a mushroom pizza for dinner, and when Peter gets home he and John are going to decorate a cake for me. I'm hoping Peter has a few presents in tow too...like an iPod!

I feel like today is the calm before the storm, because tomorrow is going to be busy, busy, busy. There are a lot of things to do before we leave for our vacation on Saturday. But I'm trying not to stress out about that today. It's my birthday and I'm going to relax and let it all go!

Later tonight or tomorrow check back here, because I'm going to post pictures of the cake that Peter and John make and any other relevant birthday-related things!

Here they are!

My pedicured toes and pampered feet. The nail polish shade is "Nantucket Mist." I chose it in part because I'm going to Cape Cod next week, and Nantucket is an island there.

Here are the cake decorators in action. John loved shaking those sprinkles, so it was a very sprinkly cake!

The cake was made with love and was sweet and delicious. (Unfortunately the camera wasn't focused properly here!)

My little helper John helped me blow out the candles.

Here I am with one of my greatest gifts, and the person behind the camera is another one of my greatest gifts. I was wearing my glasses because my contacts were hurting my eyes that afternoon. I guess they didn't know that it was my birthday.

The Veepstakes

It's time to talk, er, write politics because it's been on my mind lately as the political scene has begun heating up again. In the next few weeks, John McCain and Barack Obama will be naming their Vice Presidential candidates. McCain's announcement could come as soon as this week, which would give him some attention while Obama is becoming the world's darling out in the Middle East and Europe. (What's up with that? Why is he behaving like and being treated like he's already the President?)

I think the running mate can have a significant impact on whether or not the presidential candidate gets elected, and to me, that's one of the most important roles of the Vice President before they're even in office: to help get the presidential candidate to the White House. So it usually comes down to a matter of strategy when choosing a running mate, and therefore my picks for the V.P. candidates are mostly strategic. Here they are:

1) Barack Obama should choose Hillary Clinton. A lot of people, mostly women, like her a lot and will vote for Obama in a heartbeat if she's on the ticket. It's being said that women in general are a highly coveted group for the candidates to win in this election. Some say he needs to choose a white man who is more middle-of-the-road, and that's not a bad idea, but I think an Obama-Clinton ticket would be powerful. Clinton has many, many resources at her disposal, and I think she has good, solid experience as a Senator and as de facto Vice Prez while Bill was in office. Speaking of Bill, I think he'll be on his best behavior, at least until they win. And I do think Obama-Clinton would win.

2) John McCain. Sigh. I'm going to be shocked if he defeats Obama. I don't think his running mate, no matter how good, will be able to overcome the odds McCain is facing. You all know that I was a Mitt Romney supporter when he was running. I'm still disappointed that he didn't get the nomination because it's very clear to me that he was definitely the best in the field from both parties. I think he would be brilliant as V.P., and from a strategic standpoint he would be great on the ticket when it comes to the economy, which is a major source of concern right now for Americans. But there are too many people who don't like or trust him or know him well enough, plus it would be two white men running together, which would be a direct contrast to the historic matter of Obama running. Though I've heard that McCain and Romney have been getting along well now that they're not competing with each other, I don't think it's very likely that McCain will choose him.

So, I think McCain should choose Condoleeza Rice for his running mate. I have long admired the Secretary of State for her intelligence and articulateness; she resembles Romney in that regard. The Republican ticket would instantly become a historic one with Rice on it. She's black and she's a woman. That's Obama and Clinton rolled into one. It would be a first-time ever thing if they were elected, and people would vote for them because of that. Both women and blacks would be more drawn to the Republican ticket, especially if Obama chooses a man for his running mate. I tested out this theory on my Democratic mother awhile ago and she said that I was right; she would be a lot more likely to vote for McCain if Rice were his running mate. I have a feeling that a lot of people would, including moderate Democrats and disgruntled Republicans who don't really like McCain but do approve of Rice. I know I'd be a lot more likely to vote for McCain if Rice were on the ticket.

There are some drawbacks to Condi. She's strongly associated with President Bush, which isn't a good thing given his low approval ratings. Some would say that she doesn't have enough experience, but I think she has better experience than Obama. However, it's pretty unlikely that Rice is going to be chosen. She has said she's not interested in the job, and she and McCain don't seem all that "tight." It's unfortunate, but apparently true.

As for me, I'm still undecided as to who to vote for in November. I'm really interested in how things will turn out in the next few months. I could be swayed either way. I don't really like either man all that much, although there are things that I do like about each of them. I might still just write in Mitt Romney's name. Hey, I live in Connecticut, which is going to go Democratic anyway, so it doesn't really matter. If I lived in a swing state, then maybe I'd vote more responsibly.

What do you think? Agree, disagree? Who are your V.P. picks? Don't be shy; leave a comment and let your voice be heard (er, read)!

A Weekend of Old Friends

Last weekend was a good one for seeing some great friends from the past. On Saturday, July 19th, two of my best friends from high school, Amy and Stacey, came down from Mass. to visit for a few hours. I hadn't seen them since Stacey's wedding in October of 2006. I've missed them, so it was really nice to get together again.

Stacey, me, and Amy, posing for the camera.
This is what happens when I ask Peter to take pictures. He takes pics like this. I was hoping he'd get some good candid shots of us, but no. PETER!! (On a side note, you can see my arm, which has some fairly good shape to it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see my previous post.)

Amy was one of my bridesmaids when I got married. She and I had a lot of fun in high school. When I think back on it I realize that we were the silliest girls sometimes. We did some really funny things. At least they were funny to us. A few examples:

• We were obsessed with the movie Titanic during our senior year and so we went to see it every week for at least a month while it was out in the theaters. One time I accidentally left my headlights on and so, three hours later, my car was totally dead when the movie got out. My Dad had to come and jump-start the battery.
• Amy was witness to some of the most embarrassing things ever to happen to me when we went on a disastrous (for me) ski trip together in New Hampshire in 11th grade. I haven't been skiing since and I don't think I'll ever do it again. It was that bad.
• We used to go cruising around in her mom's cool green minivan before either of us had our own car. Good times, good times.
• I went on a plane ride for the first time in my life with Amy. It was Spring Break of our junior year, and we went down to Florida, where we stayed with her sweet and amusing grandparents. We went to the beach a lot and of course, to Disney World. So much fun!
• We were just about the only girls at the prom who wore short dresses. Amy and I had good runner's legs, so we wanted to show them off. Everyone else wore long, elegant gowns, but not us.
• We both quit the track team our senior year within a week of each other. We had Physics class together and the teacher was the track coach. He didn't like us very much after that. It was awkward, but at least we had each other!
• And many, many more things that I could probably write an entertaining teenage novel about.

Bridesmaid Amy in action

That's Amy in the middle of the picture, surrounded by my other bridesmaids: my sisters Elizabeth and Jennifer and my niece Hayley. I've always really liked this picture.

Stacey and I endured a truly horrible Chemistry class together in 11th grade. I have no idea how the teacher, Mrs. Bent, ever got hired by the school district. We left that class knowing next to nothing about Chemistry. This probably explains why I had such a tough time with it in college. Thanks a lot, Mrs. Bent! Stacey understands. She and I both married a guy with the last name of Carlson, so we're each "Mrs. Carlson" now. Also, when she got married almost two years ago, her wedding dress was one of the most gorgeous I've ever seen. She looked like a princess bride in it.

The beautiful bride in her beautiful gown...

Mr. and Mrs. Carlson. Now we're family!

Weekend Old Friend Incident #2. My mother came down later on Saturday because we were invited over to the Starr's house for a special lunch on Sunday afternoon. The Starrs are a family in our ward at church. Shortly after we moved here, Cathy Starr and I were chatting and discovered a cool, very surprising connection--she and my mother had known each other as teenagers in Massachusetts when my mother first joined the church. Cathy's family, particularly her parents, helped my mother out a lot during that time. Her mother, LaRae Lowry, was someone I grew up hearing about, and LaRae was visiting this weekend, so she and my mother got to see each other again after many, many years, and I got to meet her. It was really neat and we had such a nice time visiting over there.

So it was a great weekend with some special friends. It's really nice to maintain connections over the years with people who mean a lot to you. I hope these connections will last a lifetime, perhaps even longer. Next weekend I'll be getting together with some other friends from high school. One of the great things about summer is that it's the best time for reunions!

My Summer Goals

I have three of them and I've been working on them since the beginning of June.

1) Yardwork and gardening. Work on our landscaping and finally plant a vegetable garden!
2) Start regularly exercising again.
3) Read lots of books for pleasure.

I'm happy to report that I've been doing quite well on the first two. I will post pictures soon of the work I've done in my yard and the vegetable garden that I successfully planted. In June I worked about a half-hour a day in the yard and now I'm doing about 20 minutes a day, except for Sundays. It's good to be out in the sun working with nature and attempting to beautify our surroundings.

Exercise!: After years of not working out, I got tired of my increasingly untoned bod and finally started exercising again. I love it! I get pretty quick results from exercise, which is gratifying and helps me continue going. I've been doing about five days a week, just 20 minutes a day. I use a wonderful Pilates video that I bought at Target back in January. My focus has been on strengthening and toning my arms and shoulders, and I'm really happy with the results. They've never looked better in my whole life. Not only do I feel better physically, but I think it's also helping me emotionally and spiritually. Plus I feel like I'm fighting off lots of diseases and sicknesses.

Reading: I have a bad habit of not making enough time to read for pleasure in my life, even though reading has long been one of my greatest joys. I try harder in the summer to loosen up and read more, but old habits die hard and I find myself always trying to get things done or work on a project so that I can get it done. So far this summer, I'm still letting too many other things take up my time and attention over reading (I read newspapers and magazines daily, but I'm talking about good old-fashioned books--the best kind of reading out there). I've read three books so far this summer. One of them was a potty-training book so I guess that doesn't really count, since that pertains to my job of mother rather than a book for me. I have a stack of the ones I want to read before the fall on my desk. So I'm going to focus on reading for pleasure more. I think it's just as important as the previous two things.

As I said earlier, I'll post pictures sometime soon of my yardwork and garden. Maybe if someone begs me I'll post a picture of myself flexing my increasingly awesome arms and shoulders. Ha ha! I'm kidding about that one. And I'll report in August if I got through my stack of summer books. I hope everyone who reads this is having a good summer!

A Cat's Life

Sometimes I wish I were a cat. This is what they can spend all day doing, if they so desire. What a life!





No responsibilities, no nagging To Do list, no serious matters to deal with, just plain old relaxing and living life. Someday, I'm going to try living like a cat for a week, simply sleeping, eating, and grooming myself. Maybe for leisure I'll throw in some reading time instead of chasing bugs around. It sounds like a pretty ideal life to me, at least for a little while. I wish I could do it right now!