Popcorn Popping

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.
Spring has brought me such a nice suprise
Blossoms popping right before my eyes.



I could take an armful and make a treat.
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!


---Primary Children's Songbook

Overheard

I've a coworker who just returned from a 2 1/2 week trip to Vietnam where they helped out a tiny village with medical care and establishing a system that will warm the very cold mountain water so they can comfortably wash themselves.

HIM: The time change has totally screwed me up. I woke up at 11:30 last night my body convinced it was morning...time to get up. I'm really struggling to readjust.

HER: I know EXACTLY how you feel; we went to Vegas for the weekend, and, boy, I'm just really tired.


Keep in mind the Vietnam is a 13-14 hour time difference;
Las Vegas is 1

Monterey

My weekend was delightful (and a little chilly); I cannot believe how gorgeous the peninsula and the drive along PCH to San Simeon is. Here a my favorite photos from the trip.









The beautiful scenery is actually how I imagine Ireland...deep greens, blue water, a touch misty. Every new corner offers a stunning vista, and eventually you figure out that if you stop for every good photo op....you'll never get where you're going. Absolutely.Gorgeous.

Congratulations!

I found out tonight that my sister and her fiancee (TLM) got married last Sunday while they were on vacation in the Bahamas.

They plan to have a big to-do here sometime, but with his daughter getting married this weekend they didn't want to "steal her thunder"....especially since neither of them needed the big, fancy wedding.

The best part, they got married in shorts and t-shirts...spur of the moment. They mentioned to their cab driver that they wished they'd planned ahead since it was a Sunday and nothing was open, but wait, their cab driver has a friend who is a Justice of the Peace, and an hour later their I do's were done and they are hitched.

Best wishes for lots of happiness...you guys deserve it.

To Go or Not To Go

*UPDATED*
I talked to my sister and I've decided that it is just too good an opportunity to pass up. Reservation have been made, tickets bought...and I'm off!

When I first decided to see 500 places on The List, I looked at everything in the surrounding areas and decided what I could do in a weekend. Then I signed up for every "Last Minute Deal" newsletter I could find, just so I could be prepared.

Well, today I got the Delta weekend fares in my inbox and round trip to Monterey (actually Monterey, not San Jose, San Francisco, or LAX) this weekend is $160...that, my friends, is a steal. Coupled with my VIP status at Travelocity (for a discounted rental car), and my "Friends and Family" connection at Marriott...I could really, seriously, just go...This. Weekend.

However, my (soon-to-be-but-not-quite-yet)step-niece is getting married; the reception is on Saturday. My sister and her fiancee have only been together a couple of years. I've seen the bride-to-be about 4 times, but we've all tried hard to make her feel like she's a part of our family. Do I still go to Monterey this weekend? Or do I do the familial duty and attend the wedding?

2007 Book Challenge

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
I've had a love of reading since the very first time letters became words. When we were little my Mom would buy dozens and dozens of books from the book-orders the school sent home in my backpack. I would anxiously await the order only to be told that I had to earn the books. There were several variations on earning books, at one time there was a point system, at other times there were specific goals to be met, and always on Christmas and birthdays there were books.

My sister, mother to 4 little book junkies herself, has now become a book-order fiend, and when I admitted to a little jealousy of her book order connection she calmly told me that she had ordered several Beverly Cleary books, and I could earn them (by babysitting!)....quite the diabolical plan she had...and it totally worked. I *love* the Ramona books. LOVE. THEM.

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
I didn't really care for the noir language, but couldn't help but think of Stephanie the entire time I was reading this. Also, my mild dislike for it could've been influenced by the darkness of the story, and that I read it on vacation. Definitely, not vacation reading material.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to a Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by MT Anderson
Possibly the longest titled book I've ever read, and again, not vacation fare. I did however, really enjoy this book and look forward the rest of the trilogy. This book covers a period just prior to the Revolutionary War in the life of a young slave who was born into privilege as an experiment to determine if the "African", if properly raised and educated, could overcome their beastly genes and be equal to the whites. Parts of it made me good and truly sick and overwhelmingly angry.

The Action Heroine's Guide.... by Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht
Another impossibly long-titled book, but it was a lovely change of pace. Also, I can now kick your ass.

Step on a Crack by James Patterson
I believe Mr. Patterson is retiring my long time favorite detective, Dr. Alex Cross, and replacing him with this up-and-comer. None-the-less I enjoyed this book where 34(?) very prominent, wealthy citizens are taken hostage in St. Patrick's Cathedral during a funeral.

I'm Not Ready to Talk About it Just Yet

But sufice it to say, that it is nerve-wracking, and exciting...and did I mention nerve-wracking?