Whose Line - Song Style: Bill Nye the Science Guy

Bill's got moves! 

National Book Festival

Today, we went to the National Book Festival in Washington.  Over 120 authors spoke, in rooms throughout the convention center, and there were book signings lined up - oh, the book signings.  All of those authors, lined up 20 at a time in one part of the convention center, with long lines of people waiting for their turn to get a few, brief moments with the author of their choice.

In the main hall, the books were on display everywhere.  There was a bookstore in the back, every author who was presenting a talk or signing books this day had books that they have written for sale.  Every where you looked, there were books, books, and activities related to books.  Story times and book activities were literally everywhere you looked.  My favorite area was set up by Wells Fargo, and they had little stuffed horses set out for the kids to sit on during story times.

The cute little story time horses.

Every state had a table.  And every single table was full of information about that state, and had displays of the books or authors from each state.  The state by state displays were packed full of people... everywhere....

Iowa

New Mexico

Indiana was touting their John Greene connection....

Hester Betts was signing packets of Freedom Seeds to tie into her book Seeds of Freedom.

Little Free Library - These are a thing all over the country.  Leave a book, take a book.

Odds and Ends

We are finally finished acquiring stuff for youngest child.  Her clothes are all washed, and she has begun deciding what goes with her, what stays here, and what is going to the thrift shop.  The large pile of stuff that she's had spread all over the house is slowly being combined down into just a few boxes and bags.  The rest of the house looks like a clothing and paper bomb went off and spread a fine layer of stuff everywhere.

A Different Kind of Birth Control
Daughter was at her boyfriends' house a couple of weeks ago.  She and her boyfriend were sitting in the living room, getting a little snuggly and cozy.  His mom walked in, sat down with them, and began talking to them.  "So, did I ever tell you about when he was born?  I was in labor for 26 hours with him.  He did so much damage to my vagina when he was born, I had to have 6 stitches in my vagina.  Did you know they can put stitches there?"  Daughter's boyfriend was mortified, and kept asking "Can we please stop talking about this mom?  I don't want to know anything more about your vagina"....  Daughter thought it was great, and kept asking questions.  Boyfriend asked her "How can you keep talking about this?"  Daughter started laughing and said "She was trying to kill the mood, and she killed the mood!  I admire the way she did it, and figured it was worth asking her to tell more of her story!"

I've got to admit, I've had 3 kids, and I never thought about sharing the kids' birth stories as a way to help with birth control!  It's a stroke of genius, if you ask me!


Adopt an Animal
Just below this post,  I have shared the video from the Carroll County Animal Shelter about animal adoption weekend.  You know, the ultimate goal of an animal shelter is to get animals into a forever home, and save their lives.  Even if you live nowhere near Carroll County, your local animal shelter has animals that are in desperate need of a forever home!

Not My Girl Friend

Middle child has a friend, who is a girl, who goes to college with him and went to high school with him. They spend a lot of time together, and they seem to know more about what's going on in each other's lives than their respective parents do.  I stopped by middle child's school on the way home today to work on some paperwork.  We were walking back to the car, talking, when all of a sudden, he was gone.  I looked around, and saw him waving at his "not girlfriend" as he walked over to her.
I looked at the two of them, and then said "So, I guess we're done here?"  He jumped, looked at me a little guilty and said "uummm...."   I told them both to enjoy their weekend and walked away.

Not my girlfriend.  Right.

Baby Panda at the National Zoo!
Do you want to see pictures from the Baby Panda?  You can see the pictures from the National Zoo on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/pandastory/.

The Zoo has an Instagram Account, which you can find here: https://instagram.com/smithsonianzoo/

They've also set updates on their website, which you can find here: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaUpdates/default.cfm

Gotta admit it, I'm a panda freak!  I love the pandas, and I do check in on them a couple of times a day!


Lightly Used Quarterback for Trade
Have you seen this ad circulating on social media?
You can find the original post on Craig's List here: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bar/5199637176.html -
But, I'm going to cut and paste the text below, because this ad will eventually disappear.

I am looking to barter a EUC QB. There is nothing wrong with the QB as stated by numerous doctors. Interested in all offers. O-line, D-line, linebacker, safety, corners, anyone that can tackle. Got a gift certificate to Ruby Tuesday? Let's talk. Anything here people. All I can do is say no. (I won't.) Take this QB off my hands before I have to cut him.

I will not respond to texts. No "tire kickers" please, these legs have been put through the wringer, but are perfectly capable of playing in the NFL if you get him out of our Charlie Foxtrot organization. I will respond to e-mails daily with a little bit of a smirk and a short answer that may change tomorrow morning if management tells me what I said was wrong.

Also, see my other ad in the jobs section titled "Head Coach looking for football related job with stable organization." Or visit my website at: www.getmetheheckoutofdc.com

Please, I'm begging here.


Stay safe and enjoy the weekend! 

Humane Society of Carroll County Labor Day Special 1

You said what?

I had an interesting experience yesterday at yoga class, where someone took it upon themselves to come and tell me that "Women of size need to be careful when doing yoga.  You are a Woman of Size and you are going to hurt yourself. "  She then told me how I should be doing the poses - in direct opposition to what the instructor was saying. 

Hey, we have an ACE certified teacher who is all over that class, keeping an eye on every student and correcting posture as we go.

Honey, here's a newsflash.  Women of Size, as you so delicately called me - we KNOW that we are overweight.  You have NO idea how much courage it takes to go get myself into a classroom full of thin and fit people who can twist themselves up like a pretzel.  You really want to help me out?  Get to know me.  Learn my name.  Welcome me to class when I come, and mean it. 

I am trying to help myself - but - do you want to know why overweight people drop out of exercise classes?  It's because we feel like we're being judged.  If you are that concerned about me, discuss your concerns with the instructor, and she can address it directly with me.  You know, my ACE certified instructor who knows my injuries and limitations and has given me modifications that work for me, but don't call attention to me specifically during class. 

In the meantime, you can be my friend.  Get to know me.  Talk to me.  Learn my name, and my story.  Say hi to me when you see me outside of class.  Check in on me if I don't show up for class, and make sure I am okay.  I could be having a pain filled day and couldn't make it in, or I might have had someone come over and say something "helpful" that has me doubting if I should ever go back to class again.  

Don't give me diet advice.  Don't tell me what I should be eating to lose weight.  You have no idea what I do and don't eat, and you have no right to "tell" me what to do.  Just be my friend.  Your love and acceptance means more than you can imagine.

I know you are trying to help, but it comes across as being judgmental.  Believe me, I'm already hard enough on myself.  I don't need any extra help with that.

Making Ketchup

Over the weekend, I decided that I was going to take the last of the tomatoes and make them into ketchup.

How hard could that be? I asked....

Turns out, not only is it hard, it's a pain in the behind.

This is the recipe that I followed:

The directions didn't look that hard, and I had all of the ingredients on hand.  I do love me my ketchup, and the thought of having ketchup without high fructose corn syrup is an appealing thought.

So, I put the tomatoes into a pot, and began to stew them down.  And they stewed, and they stewed.  4 hours later, and I still had a very, very thin sauce that looked like water.  No thickness whatsoever.  3 hours later, everything finally thickened up - and I felt as if I had a batch of applesauce - but made from tomatoes, instead.

This - THIS - is the final result of my 6 hours of effort and electricity.  I'm going to use this as BBQ sauce on some chicken later this week.

I don't know where I went wrong.  I don't know what I did wrong.  For now, I think I'll stick to the stuff in a bottle that's full of high fructose corn syrup.  The quest continues...

New Years Resolutions 2015

I'm seeing the fruition of a few more of my goals.  Keeping track of these goals publicly is making a difference... I am actually making progress towards completing them! I don't think I'm going to complete #1 though.  It's beginning to seem a little too optimistic.  Even for me.

1) Exercise More, Walk 500 Miles

Exercising more is good for me, right? Seriously, I know it is!  I began a yoga class this past week, and after several days of muscle soreness, I have found that parts of me that usually hurt a lot are hurting a lot less!  I've been working on the poses that help with my pain in between classes this week, and I'm looking forward to my next class tomorrow.

I have a goal of walking the Great Pumpkin 5K in November.  I need to get my mileage up between now and then, but the goal is definitely within reach!  The Walk is around a farmer's field, in the fall.  Does life get much better than walking in the woods around fields on a crisp autumn morning?

Miles walked this month: 33
Last month's grand total: 39.24

Total Walked this year: 72.24

Did you notice that this month I almost met my entire mileage this year to date?  That's progress!

33 miles this month!

2) Lose 10 pounds
Slowly but painfully, I've lost 2 pounds this year.  I like to think that since the weight is coming of so slowly, and with dietary changes and not fad dieting, it is going to stay off.  I really want to go down one more clothing size this fall.  Really, really, really want to go down one more clothing size!


3) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
We're making some progress on this.  We believe we've got enough money saved up to hire a plumber to come in and run the lines through to the bathtub.  We'll wait until after we deliver daughter to college.  (Because why would we want to do this when all of us are living at home?)  Husband will install the tub surround.  PROGRESS!!!


4) Finish Oldest Child's Quilt

Quilt on the Bed in his new room.

5) Clean and Organize the Family Room in the Basement
Done!  We're still working on the big, messy room.  The kids have been "shopping" in the basement for stuff that they need.  Daughter has walked away with the most - taking a set of old plastic drawers and a set of milk crate shelves that I bought years and years ago.


6) Cut Back on the Time I Spend on Social Media
No Facebook on phone = much less time on Facebook.


7) Read 75 Books This Year
As of right now, I'm on book number 51, and right on target for finishing 75 books by the end of the year!  I've read a lot of fun books this year and really enjoyed myself!  You can find the list of books read this year here. 

The haul from my most recent library pilgrimage!

8) Get Out of Debt, Pay College Tuition Without Going Deeper Into Debt
Fall semester is paid for.  Textbooks are paid for.  The kids both kicked in substantial sums of money to help cover the cost of tuition from their summer jobs.  How can I, as a Mom, complain about this?

So proud of them!  With their own input into their tuition, they have ownership over their experience.  Ownership means that they are more likely to take their college education seriously.  (Since they know how hard they worked in order to get that money.)


9) Spend More Time With My Family
Daughter moves out in a week.  *sniff* In the meantime, I am thrilled that I only work part-time and was able to spend so much time with all 3 of the kids this summer.  Carpooling into work with oldest child, picking daughter up from work when she was one of the closers, and hearing the stories of her crazy evening, and taking middle child up and back from camp all summer long were fantastic.  Having all 3 of them home at once, cooking together, going to watch airplanes land, taking long walks... I enjoyed it all.  I'm looking to visiting each of them separately this fall!  I can't wait to see how well they are adapting to their new adventures!


10) 365 Grateful
You can find me on Flickr.  I posted a bunch of new public photos last night!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/librarynut/

11) Replace The Car That Was Totaled
Now that the last baby chick is flying the nest, we don't need 3 cars.  We managed to power through 3 years with 4 drivers and only 2 cars.  However, the Honda has 200,000+ miles on it and should be replaced soon.

12) I Will Maintain My Friendships
I saw my God-Daughter several times this month.  First time in about 10 years that I've seen her!  They had moved out of the area, but she's back in the area for graduate school!

13) I Will Have More Adventures

We spent a day volunteering for UMCOR up at Mission Central.  We assembled Health Kits.  These kits will be shipped somewhere around the world in the wake of a disaster.  They aren't meant to replace everything that might have been lost, but if you were to end up in an emergency shelter, chances are, you'd get a bag with a comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple of towels, fingernail clippers, and some soap.  Items that are desperately needed, but sometimes forgotten when fleeing a home in the wake of a disaster.

Items for Hygiene kits from UMCOR

14) Craft More

I made the plate last month for my 50th birthday.  It's not a thing of beauty, but I really like it!  I think the next one I make will be ALL splatter paint.  I can handle that! 

My plate

Unicorns!

What kind of progress are you making on your resolutions?