Whew! I've been playing with a princess this weekend.

I don't have any children. However, I have ten beautiful nieces and nephews. Four of them live in this area and I get to spend quite a bit of time with them.

Hann, the fifteen-year-old, is working this summer. Her folks and younger sisters went upNorth this weekend, but she had to work today. She called me up on the phone. "Aunt Owwee, can I stay with you this weekend?" Oh yeah.

Actually, we both stayed at my mother's, as I stay there a couple nights a week now and Friday was one of my nights. (Also, we couldn't leave Mom out of a girls' weekend. That wouldn't be right!)

We decided that Hann would be Princess for the weekend. This wouldn't work with all kids, but she's an old soul and didn't take advantage of the situation. We went to the mall on Saturday and spent FOUR hours there. I haven't done that in, well, how many years, Sheryl? She was buying tops on sale, making wise use of her money. Then we stopped at Deb's, one of the more fashiony places. They had lovely summer dresses on sale, and I got to play doting aunt and buy her one. When we stopped at the food court, we just took our time eating. She's a dawdler, but as Princess we wouldn't rush her. (And of course she didn't have to clean her plate.)

After the mall she and I swung over to the arboretum and took a long walk around the perimeter. She actually spotted the fawns first! What a thrill.

Our project back at Mom's was to work on altered books we had started earlier this summer. They are actually old encyclopedia that we are recycling. I had a big box of photos that I've take over the years of Hann's family. She had so much fun going through that, exclaiming over old friends and teachers that she hadn't seen in years, that she didn't get much done on her book. Mom and I were having fun watching her, but we got a little more done in ours.

This morning I took her off to work, then picked her up about six. As I said, she's an old soul. There we were out in Mom's backyard, three women, ages 76, 53, and 15, reading books until the fireflies came out.

It's fun to play with a Princess.

And the Princess appeared to have a great time. However, she was mighty happy to see her Mom and Dad pull into the driveway.

Wildlife and flowers.

This one is for kimnet.

Coming August 12 . . .

The third round of Obfuscation! (And I spelled it right this year.) I'm playing, are you?

Unconsciously Muttering, we are.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Risks::Insurance
2. Abdominal::Cavity, exercises
3. Radiant::Sun, Bride, princess niece
4. The usual;::Same ol' same ol'
5. Mix and match::My wardrobe
6. Wireless::Cell Phone
7. Remedial::Reading
8. Mile::8
9. Long lost::Friend
10. Only one::Lonely one

Today was good.
Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.
~~Dr. Seuss

I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be there in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be there in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they built - I'll be there, too.
~~John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.
~~Author Unknown

Eek! running late . . . must blog something before Thursday is over . . .

Swiped from LDH, who is a lovely shade of green.

Your Power Color Is Gold

At Your Highest: You are engrossed in passions that mentally stimulate you. At Your Lowest: You seek thrills and neglect what's important in your life. In Love: You see dating as adventure and approach it with an open attitude. How You're Attractive: Your passion for life makes others passionate about you. Your Eternal Question: "Am I Having Fun?"

What's Your Power Color?

Morning!
(or afternoon, for some of you *smile*)
I survived my re-entry into the working world fairly well, thank you very much. I think it helped to go back on a Tuesday instead of a Monday. Now we're already to hump day!

The Party's Over

The alarm clock went off this morning. The vacation is over.

It has been a good one, though, with the right combination of new things/old things, of out-of-town/in-town, of true R&R.

I am more relaxed than I've been in a long time. I sure hope I can keep this feeling up, say at least until 10: a.m.

Happy day!

26Things.

I'm done. Ahead of schedule. Yes!

Cassie-B's birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday, kiddo!

Great! The roofers were only mildly noisy, and waited until 7:45.

Newspaper headline: Warmest summer since 1949.

Big storms yesterday. Otto lost power. Monday madness is now up.

Today, Monday, is the last day of vacation. I shirley do feel good about missing a Monday at work. Took my blood pressure over at Meijers: 106/69. Pulse 65. Best it has been in a long time.

Last night for staying up late. Don't worry, I can't sleep in. The roofers are working on the apartment roof: they'll be clomping around at 7:00 a.m.

The fly looks bigger if you go check out the larger version.

Good night!

Mandarin meg posted a new opaque post recently, so I had to play.

Delving into her comments, (which is where she does some of her more intense blogging), I find that she's headed for surgery on the arm. Sending love and prayers your way, meg.

Okay okay . . . I didn't get the 26things completed yesterday. I stopped at the zoo to see if my niece was working and got to playing there. Still need eight pictures to complete 26things, but I think I can!

wonderful images, wonderful writing here. Synchronicity.

Unconsciously Muttering:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Believing::is seeing
2. Invasion::of the bodysnatchers
3. Boys::girls
4. Island;::dream
5. Repeatedly::time after time after time
6. Normal::Mundane
7. Hex::Curse
8. Tuxedo::Wedding
9. Virgin::Sacrifice
10. Cereal::Wheat Chex

That can't be right: I'm less weird than Gail??

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people...But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

Plant it and they will come . . .

My mom grew up on a farm, and her father might have shuddered to hear that she was planting milkweed in her herb garden.

Today she saw a Monarch butterfly out there.

Maybe Grandpa would have understood.

Vacation Day #3!

Yesterday was scrapbook day. I had bagazillions of pictures I needed to print out, so I did that in the morning. I also got my supply case cleaned and prepped. At three-thirty I headed over to the Crop and Create at the new Scrapbooking Store in town. It's amazing how many pages you can get done when you're working in a well-lit area with lots of tools (and lots of stuff to buy). I finished the wedding album for niece #1, which is a good thing, as niece #2's wedding (spelled that as weeding first) is in two weeks.

Today's project: Finish up the 26things.

Your Blogging Type is Social and Responsible

You enjoy blogging and do all you can to advance the blogging community, from helping friends set up blogs to getting rid of spam. A committed blogger, you tend to blog regularly. You'd hate to disappoint your audience. And always appropriate, there's no way you'd blog something too personal!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Currently listening to Spirit Force, another purchase from yesterday.

Maybe. Swiped from The Real Sam Johnson.

45954 wordsCongratulations! You scored 138!

You scored as knowing approximately 45954 words and word meanings. This officially qualifies you as "college material."

Link: The How Many Words do You Know Test written by 476herschel on Ok Cupid

Swiped from the Extremely Logical LDH:

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 75% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

One of the ways I "spent" my money was picking up a Glen McCune print. It was worth it, though!

Vacation Days 1 & 2!

Just got back from a whirlwind trip upNorth with my friend Deb. Deb's a screenwriter. Now, she hasn't had anything performed yet, but she has an agent and she's had serious interest in her scripts, and I just love her energy. She's doing research for a true story from upNorth, so we had a great time sleuthing around. (Great spies we, two middle-aged ladies dashing around in a red convertible with the top down.)

Stopped here and left with less money. Oh my.

Tomorrow a more sedate day is planned. I'm going to a crop at the newest scrapbooking store. Yum!

Vacation time!

Yippee! I have four days off, three this week and Monday next. Yay!

I'm not going to be able to make it to Montana this year, so I go visit Pandora's blog for a taste of the west.

Congratulations to Ali!

She sky-dived. Wow!

Swiped from Patti, the Weeping Willow.

You Are A Fir Tree

You love anything beautiful, and you have extraordinary taste. And while it's hard for you to trust, you care deeply for those close to you. You are a social butterfly, and you have many friends. You handle stress well - and you are a master at relaxing after a hard day. Overall, you are modest, talented, unselfish, and very reliable.

What is Your Celtic Horoscope?

S P E N T

Roscoe had his sign, so I wanted one too!

Shirl Highway Mt. Happiness 9 Bankruptcity 22 Family Farm 47 Study Hall 113 Bewilderment Avenue 240 Please Drive Carefully

Username:

Where are you on the highway of life?

From Go-Quiz.com

Waking up to the Monday Madness:

.....and the last of the questions offered by our participants are below. Thanks to everyone for playing! =)

1. Mal asks... What is the last thing you do at night? Take my feet off the floor
2. Wil asks... Where were you when the lights went out? In Babb, Montana. Heard about it on Canadian TV. Thought it was a Canadian thing, then realized it was the whole east coast. Then called home, and realized it extended to Michigan.
3. Andrea asks... What's on your refrigerator? Thousands of magnets
4. Jenny asks... What is your ideal vacation spot? Montana or Lake Michigan
5. Kia asks... What's the sexiest language in the world? Body language
6. Zeno asks... Have you ever made a wish on a shooting star and had that wish come true? Nope.
7. Bunnykissd asks... We're more than halfway through the year now; how are you doing with your New Year's resolutions? Great! Because I didn't make any *smile*

This is just ridiculous!!

11:00 p.m., and it's still 80F/27C!!

There are going to be a lot of phone calls at work tomorrow!

Message in a Bottle

meg's still in physical therapy, still having trouble with the arms. send some sunshine, please?

Blogging for Postcards

How Popular is a Name?

Had fun playing at this site this morning. It gives the popularities of names in the U.S. back to the 1880's.

Shirley was shirley popular back in the 30's & 40's. That little girl with the ringlets wielded much influence.

Interesting quiz, not sure of the results.

Still up, so it's time to Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Tolerate::Pain
2. Release::from the hospital
3. My soul::to take (from "now I lay me. . . ")
4. Sax;::Blues
5. HP:Harry Potter
6. Worth::While
7. Rockstar::Mick Jagger
8. Terrify::Loss
9. Knock me off my feet::Sweep me off my feet, but knock me? Mah
10. Taunt::Bully

Yard Sale Today!

Didn't make a lot of money, but got rid of a lot of stuff and met some interesting people. There was the man who moved to this country from Armenia about ten years ago, and the 10-year-old who was buying stuff for his mom and sister, and the young mother who had just recently gotten turned on to beanies, and the lady who is going to finish one of my cross-stitch projects, and the shop-owner who offered to take some of Mom's painted flowerpots on consignment.

Great day.

Man oh man.
Has blogger and blog-spot been acting up for YOU today?

Light Up

Light Up is one of the items on the list for the July 2005 26Things. My mother has a bumper crop of fireflies this year. I was attempting to shoot them last week, with no luck. My ever brilliant Mom said, "Why don't you catch them and shoot them in a jar?" She's so smart.

Wednesday night I was at her house again. I collected about fifteen of the critters*. Thank heavens for digital cameras, as I took a bunch of pictures with limited success. It sure was fun trying!

*No fireflies were harmed in the execution of this project. They were housed in a well-ventilated glass jar, dining on such succulents as clover, grass, and lilac leaves. They were occasionally subjected to being turned upside down and rolled. We believe this would be the equivalent of the firefly Cedar Point. We did not charge them for this experience.

All fireflies were released upon the completion of the project, including Herbie, who was playing dead in the bottom of the jar. However, when the jar was turned over and thunked, Herbie sprang to life, flickered, and away he went.

Yikes!

I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. Took about 15 minutes to realize that: it wasn't.

The day hasn't gotten much better since.

How are YOU doing?

And a Happy Hump Day to you!

We're continuing on with our heat wave up here in Michigan, which has kept us hopping at work. (A heating and air conditioning company.)

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

See this sign? Go to Sheryl's post here. Thank you.

The Magic Door

I seldom go to the zoo, though now that niece #4 works there I find myself visiting more often.

This door intrigues me. It is in a wall in an unused section of the zoo. What lies behind it? Is it where the animals go to party at night when the humans go home?

Swiped from Veracity and Mendacity:

Your Slanguage Profile

Canadian Slang: 75%

Aussie Slang: 50%

Victorian Slang: 50%

British Slang: 25%

New England Slang: 25%

Southern Slang: 25%

Prison Slang: 0%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

The Happy Little Vegemite Song

We're happy little Vegemite's as bright as bright can be,
we all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast lunch and tea,
our mummies say we're growing stronger every single week,
because we love our Vegemite,
we all adore our Vegemite,
it puts a rose in every cheek.

I first heard of Vegemite several years ago and now, thanks to the generosity of the gracious and lovely susan on the other-side-of-the-world, I have some! Susan sent me a lovely package including the Vegemite, a platypus key-chain, an art card "Holiday sketch at Coogee 1888", BushBlends air freshener, and an Aussie Kangaroo Pouch made of genuine Kangaroo Scr*tum.

susan, you are such a thoughtful friend. Thank you ever so much!

Keeping Cool

Monday Madness is a bit too long to do this morning, but I'll put the questions here and come back to them tonight.

Thank you to everyone who offered questions last week. Since I received 14 suggestions, I am posting 7 this week and 7 next week. The following questions are from our participants; names are links to their blogs. Thanks again!

1. What book are you currently reading? (from dawn) Just finished The Mermaid's Tale. Next up, Kite Runner.
2. Have you ever experienced the loss of a pet? How did you deal with it? Would you get a new pet, and why? I had a big old black cat named Ziggy. He weighed 25 pounds at the height of his prowess. He loved spaghetti sauce, so I'd leave some in his bowl. 'Course, then he'd come lick me and he'd smell like garlic. That was weird. Zig thought he was part dog. He'd come when called, fetch, shake hands, but I blew it on teaching him rolling over. I would say, roll over, roll him over, then give him a treat. However, on the roll he'd pick up static electricity and get sparked as well as treated. Not a good plan.
In 1994 Zig got sick. I took him to the vet. He had a large tumor. I took him home, played with him, gave him tuna fish and all the things he might like to eat, then took him back to the vet's for a final visit.
We buried Ziggy out at the farm. Grandpa helped me dig the hole, and told stories about old barn cats he had known.
I won't get another pet. I'm not here enough to give it enough attention. And: I couldn't go through putting another one down.
3. Is anyone in your family in the armed services? (from teresa) My newly married niece's husband is in the armed service, in Baghdad. My car wears a yellow ribbon on the antenna for them.
4. If you have or have had a girlfriend/boyfriend, did you tell your parents about her/him without them prying for the information? (from shady88) Oh, heck, Mom and I pry each other for info.
5. What was your favorite childhood pet and tell me a few things about it. (from beth) Reepicheep the hamster.
6. Have you ever been in love? (from seren) Yes
7. What's your favorite activity? (from robyn)That's wayyyy to hard to pin down. I like picture taking and writing and reading stuff and walking in the woods and chasing deer and . . .

A River Runs Through It.

What river runs through your city/town/village?

SIX

Sunday, 3:00 a.m., so we're Unconsciously Muttering:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Do-it-yourself::Tim Allen
2. Pickpocket::Oliver Twist
3. Ballet::my nieces
4. Resumé::needs polishing
5. Phenom:enal
6. Love/Hate::relationship
7. Unusual::It's not
8. Intense::blue eyes
9. Interruption::Train of thought
10. Not enough::love

I've been Tagged!

By the lovely Montana Pandora

What I was doing ten years ago: 1995. Wow. Seems so long ago. I was working at my present job. I was taking computer classes at the Community College. I had my first muscle spasm in my back that year. Hmmmm.

5 years ago: 2000. I was working at my present job. We had survived Y2K. That was the year I took the train trip to Montana alone, met Boo and the girls out there. Grandpa passed away that year. Had a branchial clef duct cyst removed that year.

1 year ago: 2004. Oh boy. That year went up and down and ALL over the place

Yesterday: Worked my tail off to make up for the Monday holiday. (I copied this directly from Pandora, as it was SOOOO true!.)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. No-bake cookies
3. Fun-Yums
4. Jelly Bellies
5. Krispy-Kremes.

5 songs I know all the words to:
Umm. Don't laugh. I'm weird.

1. "Jesus Loves Me"
2. "Make New Friends"
3. "If I Loved You" Rodgers & Hammerstein
4. "One Hand, One Heart" Leonard Bernstein
5. "My White Knight" Meredith Wilson

5 Things I would do with $100 million:
1. Start a school. A model school, the way things ought to be.
2. Go to Paris.
3. Buy a home on Lake Michigan.
4. Start a clinic in an emerging nation.
5. Invest some for the future.

5 locations I would like to run away to:
1. Paris
2. Alaska (same as Pandora)
3. Glacier Park (same as Pandora)
4. Ireland
5. New York City

5 bad habits I have:
1. Procrastination
2. Too touchy
3. Eating too much
4. Worrying
5. Not changing the oil in the car frequently enough

5 things I like doing:
1. Reading
2. Taking photographs
3. Scrapbooking
4. Swimming
5. Writing

5 things I would never wear:
1. An eyebrow ring
2. Low riding jeans with a short T-shirt (swiped from Pandora)
3. Stiletto heels (ditto)
4. a bikini
5. a size 6

5 TV shows I like:
1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. CSI: Las Vegas
4. Without a Trace
5.

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
1. My family
2. Good friends (both IRL and blogging) I keep on swiping from Pandora
3. Lake Michigan
4. My New Camera
5. Waking up to the birdies singing.

5 Favorite toys:
1. My Camera
2. My Cell phone
3. My 'puter
4. Those poppers you pull that make a bang and spray ribbons. Those were my fireworks for the 4th!
5. Anything to do with scrapbooking!

5 Next victims:
Sheryl
Susan
susan
bryn
Anyone else who wants to be victimized!!!

Monkey see, monkey do.
Beverly did it, so I did too.



Especially the ones that go off right after you've sat down, and spray your ass. Dont'cha just hate that?

What pisses you off?

Created by ptocheia

Thoughts and prayers for those caught in the London bombings. Patti is in London now, safe, and bringing us some on-site news.

Also thoughts and prayers for those in Daniel's path. Sheryl, are you okay down there???

So Oblivious

The blood pressure medication that I take warns about protecting against sun exposure. A couple of weekends ago when I was upNorth I was out on a boat for a couple of hours, so I dutifully applied SP45 sunblock. Well, I thought I had applied it. It appears, though, that I missed:

• the insides of both upper arms
• spots right beneath where my shorts ended (but only spots)
• the insides of one leg.

I look weird.

Hump day and I haven't hardly realized it yet! I love 4-day weeks, but sheesh, they leave me mixed up. (Well, that and the computer at work being down for six hours today.)

While the mainframe was down I worked on our mailing lists. Got caught up on the Commercial Buildings list (I was three weeks behind), and got twenty builder letters out regarding the new changes coming in air conditioning. Have you heard about the changes?

Ha! caught by this over at LDH's:

If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog.

Check out www.flickr.com. Free version or professional. I'm just playing with the free, because I've seen so many of YOU playing with it. Thanks!

Breaking news! bryn is a granny! Congratulations!

I'm in a very antsy mood tonight.
Time to go to bed.

Another Fine Fix.

Saturday the weather was crisp and in the 70's, so I planned to do a couple of walking tours of neighborhoods unfamiliar to me. One of my plans was to start at the north dam, walk the rivertrail, then come back through Old Town. This is the oldest part of Lansing.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my morning paper and read that the local government is considering removing the north dam and the adjacent fish ladder. What the heck? Supposedly it would speed up the river, making a better fishing environment. Uh, but hey folks . . . historically, this is where our fair town originated, with an earthen dam here back in 1838. Does history mean nothing?

Ah well, we'll see how it turns out. The walk was fun, and I found bunches of little shops (there goes the paycheck again) to revisit.

See ya!

On the whether you'll see War of the Worlds question:
We're at 4 nos, 2 yes (with great praise from the two who saw it) and 3 possibles.
Feel free to jump in!

Jennifer links to a cute "draw a pig" page.

Susan challenges us to share more about us in our blogs . . . yikes! Good challenge, but would anyone come back?

Happy Tuesday! Four-day work week, oh yeah!

C O U N T R Y

Happy 4th!

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
US Declaration of Independence

"There's a prayer," her grandmother said. "By Julian of Norwich. She was a wonderful saint, a mystic. All my favorite saints are mystics, because they have so much faith. They can see the most impossible things, because they see with the eyes of the heart. I prayed Julian's prayer every day, while you were away. It goes, 'All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.'"

~~Summer of Roses, Luanne Rice

Cory Doctorow is coming to town. He's at the Clarion Writers Workshop, and is giving a reading Thursday at Schulers.

It's Sunday, so we must unconsciously mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Statistics::numbers
2. Grin::smile
3. Saturn::automobile
4. Fulfilled::pleased
5. Life plan:live
6. Cult::ist
7. Lily::of the Valley
8. Stalemate::draw
9. Celebration::party
10. Underwear::Haines

Once again, Cassie-B gives us the run-down of special days in July. Thanks!!!

It's a holiday week-end, so remember:

Blogger gets screwed up on holidays. Only this time, Pandora is reporting problems with TypePad. Ah well. Let's share the fun.

Swiped from Cybertoad.
This kind of explains why I don't do politics here on the Other Side. I'm a 50/50 person. Yikes! Does this make me a mugwump?

Your Political Profile

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Another 26things is starting. I think I need to do this one. All work and no play makes Jill a dull, sick girl, so . . . let's play!

And good news, Kane is back. Better news: he made pictures while he was on hiatus. Kanedeliciously good!

Oh, and Happy July!