Dam Good Day

I went on a field trip to day with my son's 4th grade class. We vistited the local dam, which is pretty wonderful, considering it's a tad smaller than the Grand Cooley Dam that we'll also be visiting soon. Still the water is rushing right now (only for a couple of more weeks though, then they shut it off).

We got to see the giant transformer, the generators that create the electricity, the control room, and we also got to peep out doors and windows, for a birds-eye view of the powerful water moving through the dam. As son said, "Awesome!"

Afterward, one of the moms, who is also a local park ranger, told us about the very quaint brick cottages near the dam that used to house the dam workers, and now house park rangers. One of them is supposedly haunted by an 11-year old boy who fell off the bridge and drowned in the river. The woman told us a hundred interesting facts about the area and the houses, and then took questions. It went like this:

Q: How did the boy drown?
A: Er, he fell in. Any questions about the houses? (hands go up)
Q: Did the boys parents know he was at the bridge?
A: I don't know, it happened about 80 years ago. Any questions about the animals in the area? (hands up)
Q: Did the boy know how to swim?

You get the picture. LOL. Not one question in 20 minutes about anything but the drowned boy. The poor park ranger - she tried to keep a straight face through it all, but it wasn't easy. The rest of us parents were hiding smiles behind our hands. So you see, an awesome dam, powerfall water, interesting history, incredible wildlife, and all they care about is the ghost. :)

What is your favorite place to visit?

Have a Great Memorial Day Weekend!

We'll be making the rounds this weekend, leaving flowers on the graves of family and friends laid to rest in the area. It's a nice way to remember folks, but also to remind the kids of their ancestors -- they'll hear the usual stories about the late loved ones and "care" just a little.

I wanted a "memorial" image for the blog and found a photo of the above tomb -- that of poet John Keats, who died at the age of 25 in Italy, where he went to nurse his consumption. He asked that the following words be carved on his tomb:

Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.

Since his work didn't gain popularity until after he died, he never knew that he'd be considered one of those most brilliant poets in history - definitely not a name writ in water.

Take a moment to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have passed on - people who have somehow impacted our own lives. We also say a special thank you to all the soldiers who have given their lives in service to our country.

Have a great weekend!

American Idol Finale

Congrats to Jordin Sparks who won this year's American Idol! She's only 17, a fabulous singer, and happens to be good friends with our local drive-thru coffee girl (barista). We adore Blake too - so good luck to him. They'll both end up with record contracts, no doubt.

I know a lot of you would rather stick a fork in your eye than watch AI, but there was one performer on last night's show that you can't hate - Bette Midler made a guest appearance, singing Wind Beneath My Wings (the Youtube vid below). I have to say, I saw her in concert at a small opera house here in town, and it was truly the best event I've ever attended. She was DIVINE. LOVE HER.

What's in a Cover?

I'm blogging today over at Deadline Divas - come and join us in a discussion about romance book covers!

Movie Reviews

This weekend dh and I had a rare treat - no kids! Unfortunately, dh had to finish his thesis project, so we couldn't go anywhere or do anything. Except . . .

I rented a few movies. There were movies on TV. It was a chick flick marathon!

Movie#1 - Music and Lyrics was a FUN movie. I like Drew Barrymore, and Hugh Grant was endearing as the has-been pop star - even dh said you can't help but like the guy. The reenactment of an 80's MTV video was hilarious, and I could definitely relate to the maturing group of women. LOL. Their romance was sweet. I'll give it an A- (though I was tempted to give it a B+ because the MTV song got stuck in my head. LOL).

Movie#2 - How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Matthew McCutie and Kate Hudson. This was on TV, I've seen it before, and it had some funny moments, some sweet interactions between the hero and heroine, but like the first time I saw it, I didn't care for the games and the lies between them. I'll give it a C+.

Movie#3 - Sweet Home Alabama with Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas - another replay on TV. I really like this movie and give it a B+ (it would've received an A- except that I hated seeing Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy) as merely an impediment to true love. His character was too wonderful.).

Movie#4 - Catch and Release with Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant (the sheriff on Deadwood). This was not a romantic comedy as I originally thought, but it does have romance, and I liked it. A lot. It was one of the stories that show life is not black and white - it isn't always neat, but that doesn't mean it's not beautiful. The secondary cast was wonderful, including Juliette Lewis. I'm giving this one an A-.

Seen any good movies lately? Any you'd like to see?

Just Do It!

I've been blog-lame again, but mostly because I've been overwhelmed this last week with real life stuff.

So, I sat down this morning with the intention of replacing my anniversary post with something more interesting, and my PC is making a noise.

It sounds like a very loud (and slightly sick) motor boat trolling for a good fishing spot.

Crap, thought I. I haven't backed up in SO long. Our business files are on this computer (those would be the worst thing to lose), along with much of my writing. I whipped out a CD, opened the RecordNow software, and went to work. I still have more to go, but hopefully soon, I'll have a good backup.

RUN, don't walk, to grab a CD, diskette, whatever, and back up your system! Especially your stories!

Happy Tuesday. Any plans today?

Happy 15th Anniversary, Chris!

No Thanks, No Snakes!

My son has been on a campaign to get me to allow him a pet snake.

Um . . . NO.

He brings home books galore and recites every interesting fact about them from their reticulated skins to their eating habits.

Son: Pleeeease, Mom.

Me: NO, I don't want to lay in bed at night knowing that in the next room over, a large snake is engulfing a rat or a little bunny. (See previous post about me being a wimp.) I also hate the thought of it getting loose in my house.

Son: But Mom, only XX number of snakes are actually poisonous!

Me: NO.

Son next day: But Mom, they can't wind themselves up your legs because your skin is too smooth and they couldn't maintain a grip. (Obviously, he hasn't seen how hairy my legs get when I don't shave).

Me: NO.

Son next week: But Mom, they're important in nature to keep the rodent population down.

Me: That's where they need to stay. In NATURE. I'm fine with them being out there.

I did let him have the lizard, which after going to the pet store for crickets to feed him cost $83.11 in crickets, cricets cage, cricket tubes to coat the crickets in calcium powder, etc. I nearly had heart failure at the cash register. If a small lizard costs that much, how much would it cost to keep a snake in rats and rabbits? *shiver*

Have you ever had creepy pets in your home?

The Seven Year Itch

Not the proverbial marital itch, but I've heard that we go through cycles of reinvention in our lives.

For instance, at the RWAOnline boards, the monthly discussion topic asks people about their life and job experiences, so that writers might use each other as research resources. There seems to be a pattern in the revealing.

For years, I worked as a grunt worker with little ambition. Then I changed and went through a cycle of ambition in both my work and wanting to acquire "stuff." I wanted nicer clothes, a cool car (which for me was a new SAAB because I'm dorky that way), and eventually, a home to call my own. Then I re-incarnated into a "mom." Pure and simple without any other life things calling to me. After several years of that, I was drawn back to school where I studied something entirely different from my years of employment. Now, I want to write. And read. And listen to stories. And if I had the money, I'd publish books or make audio books. I still do the mom thing, but as the kids grow more independent, so do I -- again. Maybe in the next decade, I'll have an urge to join the circus. :)

Have you seen patterns - maybe every 7 years - of change in what you want from life? Some of you are too young to have a long history of this, but it's like moving from one season to another - do you feel that change?