Thank you for all of your helpful color suggestions. I think we will paint test patches with Attitude Gray (a dark, but not too dark, ambiguous color, which fits quite nicely with my indecisive nature), Connected Gray (a greenish-gray) and Foggy Day (a very bluish-gray to appease all of you blue votes, though to be honest, it’s not a super strong contender, but I’m willing to keep an open mind or at least pretend to long enough to get the test patch up.) I was going to add links to the colors, but on my computer screen they all look exactly the same. Perhaps they are.
Monday afternoon I got a wild hair in me (how does that phrase actually go?) and decided to attack the shrubs in front of our porch. They were in desperate need of attack. I whacked the heck out of those babies for hours. Well, at least an hour and 15 minutes. I have the blisters to prove it. I think there may be some kind of discernible improvement there, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it. It would help if I had even the foggiest of notions how one should go about maintaining a shrub.
Last week was Mr. T’s high school registration. Freaking high school. That’s all I have to say about that. For the moment.
Yesterday afternoon I decided to make some cookies. Not just your run o’ the mill choco chip cookies, but the labor intensive kind with the 52,000 ingredients. Seriously, there’s oats and coconut and cornflakes and chocolate chips and pecans and… . Only, I substituted english toffee bits for the nuts because it’s cheaper plus also it’s toffee. I originally told myself I was making them for others. After all, they were the kind of cookies that say, “Hey, look how much I care about you with the 52,000 ingredient cookies and all!” Or “Hey, look at me blowing your mind with my mad cookie baking skillz!” But I have yet to take one of those babies across my threshhold. Unfortunately, the only threshhold they’ve crossed is that big gaping hole in my face. These cookies are the size of a decent sized saucer, and yesterday alone I ate four of them. And a quarter. BigHugs got 1/3 of the way through hers before telling me it was just too big. (I’m wondering when will be the right time to tell her she’s adopted.) I tore off a chunk of her leftovers before asking her to deliver the rest to Chuck, who ate the whole 2/3-1/4 before declaring himself full. (I’m wondering when will be the right time to tell him we’re not actually married.)
My kids had two very hilarious exchanges yesterday (or maybe the day before?) and I forgot to write them down. I am very saddened by the loss. As you should be. But hey, better to have laughed and lost then never to have laughed at all, no?
I’ve been indulging in some teen fiction, and I’m a little worried I might be enjoying it just a bit too much. Having DynaGirl ask me what the book is about and then chuckle derisively when I tell her also gives me pause. Just a moment’s, though. I think I can safely conclude that when it comes right down to it, I’m just a hopeless (helpless?) romantic at heart. Must I be ashamed? Must I??
I’m afraid I’ve temporarily run out of ramblings. I mostly just wanted to say hey. My sporadic posting means less interaction with all of you, and I miss you. Hope all is well. Adieu, adieu to you and you and you.
By the lbs 
1. How can you go wrong with ATTITUDE gray?
2. Ooooooo….whatcha reading? I love teen fiction.
Can’t wait to see your house when finished. That photo Tawnya sent was very pretty.
Our shrubs will all be subject to some wild and crazy hacking soon as we try to make up for a whole summer of neglect in one 3 day weekend.
My son has been in HS for 2 weeks. (shoot, I had just weaned myself off my hyperventilation bag…)
Mmmmm….cookies. I wonder if I’ll have time to make some after Back To School Night?
Sage and I had a funny interaction yesterday morning that ended in her defiantly yelling at me to “chip up, mom!” In between bouts of breath-catching laughter I tried to ask her what that meant and she admitted she had no idea (but boy did she mean it!) I also did not right down the other details of the conversation and am very sad.
I miss you too!
That’s right. Chip up. I couldn’t remember the phrase to tell Isaac!
Hi.
Me like cookies 😛
I knew there was a reason we’re friends. I think my super power is to be able to eat lots of cookies. I missed you too!
MMmmm, cookies. Sounds SO good right about now.
I can’t imagine high school. Seems so far away.
Also, I’m going to need a little more than “teen fiction.” Like what exactly? I’m always on the look out for some easy/quick to read stories.
Hello. I love to hear from you too.
Cookies… Mmmmmm… (Except for the coconut. That’s just gross.)
I wish I lived next door to you so I could invade your home and liberate some of those saucer-sized 52,000-ingredient cookies. Actually, I would probably liberate them even if it meant driving all the way across town. I’m just that much of a cookie activist. (Not enough of an activist to drive 6 hours, but mainly because I suspect by the time I get there, they will all be gone anyway.) (Um, not that it wouldn’t be worth a 6-hour drive just to see YOU, of course.)
I too wish to know what teen novels you are reading. I enjoy the teen novels.
Ditto on the “What books?” question. Lord knows I need another dozen titles on my to-read list. Teen fiction rocks — even when it’s on the fluffy side.
Tawnya—I know, right? I’ll e-mail you some of my more embarassing selections, if you promise not to judge.
Shaz—I’m anticipating needing that hyperventilation bag sometime in the next week. It’s just so freaky. We toured the campus (brand spanking new and not even done yet) and it’s pretty amazing. I like “Chip up!” I might have to adopt that one.
Julie—How you doin’?
Mother—I’ll have to make you some sometime. Would you like to come visit WA?
Flip—That must be my superpower, too.
Amanda—I just started reading the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. I’m not too far into it yet, but I like the premise–a futuristic society that surgically alters everyone during adolescence to make them all “pretty” and a band of rebels who want to keep their individuality. I’ll let you know how it goes. Also, at my daughter’s request, just finished reading Fairest by Gail Carson Levine–kind of a Snow White type story.
That was a fun read. I enjoyed Ella Enchanted by her as well–totally different from the movie. I have a few others on my nightstand that I’m too lazy to get at the moment. I’ll try to forward some recommendations if any of them pan out.
Alison—I forgot you’re one of those anti-coconut freaks. I still love and accept you.
Mad—It is not six hours to my house. Is it? You are welcome to my cookies any time.
Foo (and Mad)—(see my Tawnya and Amanda reply)
I promise not to judge. To your face. Just kidding.
I’m currently working my way through a romance/thriller series about Navy SEALs and the women who love them. Totally lame idea, but some of the characters are pretty awesome and not too over-the-top. There’s a great scene in one of the books during which one guy comments on his friend’s courtship strategy “nature documentary” style.
Wait! Who’s the author of the Navy SEAL books?
Suzanne Brockmann — the Troubleshooters series. Any others she’s written that have Navy SEALs in them are cra*. Well, okay, I’ve only read one other, but it was awful. Not enough character development, and it required too much suspension of disbelief. I’ve decided that there’s a definite correlation between length and quality for romance novels. If it’s too thin, there’s not enough room to make it worth the reader’s time. Of course, length doesn’t necessarily guarantee…okay,I’m going to omit the obvious, perverted “size does not equal quality” analogy here.
ROTFL. So much for leaving out that analogy. Bwahahahaha! Okay, it’s a different author than I thought. I just met a local author the other day who wrote a romance dealing with Navy SEALs. Who would’ve thought it’d be such a popular storyline?
I have the Uglies and a whole host of Meg Cabot on my Nook, right now. I will not judge…
My house is painted sagebrush from Ace hardware. I like it!
I’ve missed your words, your blog, YOU. I haven’t blogged in a while. It’s a busy time of year for us. I’ll come up for air soon . . . 🙂
First of all, YES I do want to visit WA. Even without the cookies…just to see you. 🙂
And secondly, I read Uglies this summer, and now I’m on to Pretties. I’m liking the series.
two things, I attached shrubs last year at a place we rented because I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I kind of massacred them, because you know, how hard could it be?…we moved and never brought it up with the landlord.
Cookies and sweets in general: yesterday was our anniversary and I had turtle brownies for the occasion. Chocolate, fudge, pecans, caramel… you just can’t go wrong. I cut them up into bite sized pieces so they would be easier to eat with less guilt. I cut them into 1/4. David had 1-1.4 pieces while I ate the equivalent of 2 wholes wondering if I should feel bad about it. He said he was full.
Long comment. the end.
I sometimes indulge in YA and children’s fiction too. Why not? I sometimes even reread my Nancy Drew books.
Nancy totally rocks. She and her “special friend” Ned.