I am my own entertainment

Here's the thing. Sometimes (OK, often), I do things so mindless that TH and I just have to laugh (to the point of tears).

We've been enjoying our new barbecue (charcoal - yay!! propane - boo!!) lately, and with it, I have revived an old love - s'mores. What could be better than ooey-gooey marshmallows, melty chocolate, and crunchy graham cracker?? (That was rhetorical and I really don't want an answer.) When we barbecue, we have the garage door open and have been using the back of TH's truck as a shelf. So the other day, I put the bag of marshmallows in the back of the truck, had my s'mores, made a mess, enjoyed myself thoroughly, and went back inside. This was Sunday.

Cut to Tuesday, when TH comes back from commute, work, and drum corps rehearsal at 9:30 pm, and says to me, "Guess what's in the back of the truck?" No idea.

He holds up the bag of marshmallows. Still intact. It sat through hours in the sun, a trip on the freeway, and God-knows-what-else. Still intact.

We just about died laughing.

(All dumbs are not blonde.)

Vintage Linens

I am a vintage linen junkie. I don't collect many things, but I get such a thrill from going into a funky old antique store or flea market and sifting through piles of musty old fabrics in search of that tossed-aside gem - a linen table runner, a lace doily, a starched hankie. [Not so thrilling - old undies, stained hankies, and hole-y dishtowels. Newsflash, people - some things are OK to throw out, including your old Great-Aunt Bertha's bloomers.] An added bonus is that many vintage linens are a steal - anywhere from $1-$5 for beautiful items such as these finds from this weekend:

I guess I should iron these hankies. Love the lavendar crochet trim!

Look at the work on these placemats (there are two - perfect for my tiny breakfast table!)

Pretty lacework - remarkably stain-free.

More lavender edging, this time on a sweet doily.

Tablecloth embroidery detail.

Plus, I found this gorgeous cherry-wood dresser for TH. We needed a little more room, and our old dresser fell apart when we moved. We've been sharing a cramped space for months. He is very happy, now, to have his own drawers. The best part? It was on sale. Love that!

Bumper stickers

I love bumper stickers but don't have any on my car. TH just bought this one for his truck:(From Pirates of the Caribbean, of course!)

I saw one yesterday that I love:

(Instead of all those "I'd rather be...." stickers, right?)

What's your favorite bumper sticker?

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing milkbone underwear.

I'm having the kind of week where I feel like everyone wants a piece of me. I'm juggling major work projects and everyday challenges, trying to stay motivated. I love my job, but sometimes, I wish I was independently wealthy.

They're still new if you haven't read them yet..

Today was the last day of my favorite used book sale. It benefits the SPCA and is only held twice a year. I love it because you can also take books in to donate. So...drop off a box, take home a bag. Sounds fair to me!! Plus, because it was the last day of the sale, all books were 1/2 off. I got this stack of books for $8.13.

Now that's money and time well-spent, and if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do.

Margaritaville

A little of this for the end of the week. Plus some buffalo wings. Yum.

Oh, and some Stacy and Clinton.

TGIF!!

'Cause I'm a Woman...

I've been doing lots of thinking about strong women, lately...inspired in part by Kelli and her passion for justice and health, inspired in part by the Girl Scouts and this fabulous study, and inspired by the book I'm reading.

Kelli is someone I admire (albeit from afar). Though we've never met, I count her among my blog buddies. She has a great blog, go check it out. Her posts last week were all focused on some element of public health, from fresh food, clean water, and reusing materials to social justice. Her reward for sharing her ideas? Some pretty ignorant comments and jingoistic attitudes. Yet, she continues to care deeply and unapologetically puts herself out there. Inspiration!

The Girl Scout Research Institute completed this great study about girls and leadership. It's very well done and well written - easy to read, even for non-statistics folks. The bottom line? "Girls, even at a very young age, have definite ideas about what it means and takes to be a leader...When asked what kind of leader they would want to be, both girls and boys express the aspiration to be someone who stands up for his or her beliefs, brings people together to get things done, and tries to change the world for the better, although girls feel these sentiments more strongly than do boys...Girls and boys rank similar reasons for leadership aspiration highly: to help other people, to help themselves be successful in life, to develop useful skills and qualities and to share their knowledge and skills with others. This is further evidenced in girls' and boys' choices of role models. No matter who the role models are—be it a family member, a historic figure, or a celebrity—what girls and boys admire and want to emulate is their commitment to fighting against injustices in society, their focus on helping others, and their determination in overcoming adversity and standing up for beliefs."

Isn't that awesome? It's so great to see research based on girls' and womens' ways of experiencing and defining the world. Maybe the "command and control" model will go out of vogue in the next couple of generations. What kind of difference will that make in the world? I can't wait to see it. I can't wait to see my nieces grow up into a world that values their styles of leadership.

I'm really digging this book on flappers. The 1920's is yet another era that my history classes didn't quite get to in school. I love reading about the New Woman. Especially with my 21st century eyes, their exploits seem so tame. Yet, they were truly shocking to their Victorian parents. It's amazing how nothing much has changed over the years. The fascination with a youth culture started in the '20s, and remains today (though it seems to keep getting younger). Women still struggle with double standards, lower wages compared to men in the same jobs, balancing work and family and fun, and loving/hating the influence of the media and consumerism. What rebels these women were! I can't imagine making such a drastic break with past culture, and living the wild lives they did. That takes courage.

There's no real point I'm trying to make here, just sharing some of what's been floating around in my head. If you're female, celebrate your woman-ness! If you're not, celebrate the women in your life.

Pele's Curse

So apparently, you're not supposed to take any lava from the Hawaiian islands. If you do, you get bad luck. Oodles of it. And, you're supposed to return what you took to break the curse of Pele.

With all the planning and anal-retentive preparation I do for trips, you would think I would have somehow read about this, heard about this, or otherwise known. As well, being a girl scout, and descended from girl scouts, you'd think I'd know better. (shhh) but I have to come clean. I did take a small piece of lava rock, for my niece who loves rocks, science, nature, etc.

I know! Shame on me, Pele's curse, yada yada. All right already, I mailed it back to Hawaii.

Here are some more pictures from the trip:

Ancient petroglyphs
Enjoying a refreshing beverage
Umauma Falls
Rainforest walk
Did I show this one already??

Consider yourself warned about the lava!!

Aloha!

Returned last night from a trip to Hawaii. While there, I:

• attended a conference
• participated in an amazing Hawaiian ceremony, involving a sunrise swim in the ocean.
• caught a cold (likely from the amazing Hawaiian ceremony)
• went snorkeling
• got a second-degree sunburn (likely from the snorkeling)
• saw Kiluea's smoke plume
• had some breathing problems (likely from Kiluea)
• ate good food
• gained 2 lbs (likely from the good food)

Sunset

Macadamia nut sticky bun - worth every calorie.

Ouch. It was redder the next day.

TH and a beautiful waterfall on the windward side.

Kiluea.

Book Review: The History of Love

"Marvelous." - The San Francisco Chronicle

"Astonishing." - Washington Post

"Ingenious." - New York Times


"Ehhhhhh..." - a page from her book



I'm not even done with this one yet, but I need to get this off my chest. I expected more. This is an odd book, and while I like some of the characters, I keep getting lost in the stories and having to re-read sections. I feel like it's a really pretentious book, and I feel like I'm not getting it, and I feel like I should get it, and I don't like any of those feelings very much. But, I'm seeing it through to the end. I want to see how it all comes together.