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The Invisible Woman

I just watched this video on another blog this morning and, after watching, wanted to share with you.

If you’re a mom and have ever felt like some days you are invisible, (and I know I have!) this is for you.

Check out The Fragrant Hand, the blog on which I found this, if you have a chance. It’s really good.

Hope you have a great day.

What I’ve been reading lately

I sorta told a half-truth yesterday. I said I hadn’t had time for reading. Well, that’s not really true, now that I think about it.

Reading is one of the few things I HAVE been doing these days – besides working and being the MomTaxi for the munchkins. I have been reading while they are at their activities and reading each night to unwind from my day. TV has been boring and I’m trying to stay far, far away from the kitchen and those late-night snacks that beckon from the pantry. Reading is something I usually do upstairs in my bedroom so I have been reading instead of watching TV, which, for me, used to involve a snack or two. Since I am trying to make healthier choices food-wise, snacking is not for me. Hence,more reading.

Ok, I think I beat that to death. sigh.

Here are the books I’ve enjoyed lately:

This was recommended on another blog (sorry, I can’t remember where) and I found a copy at the library and dove right in. It was very entertaining and great escapism.

The premise is that there is a whole world of wizardry, magic and witchcraft out there that exists in tandem with our “normal” world and the main character, Harry Dresden, is the world’s only wizard-for-hire. The story is a mystery/sci-fi/action novel all wrapped into one.

I found it a quick read and was only a little annoyed by the “Sam Spade” style of writing. Butcher is a little verbose in his writing and I found myself skimming paragraphs to get to the “good stuff.” But that is not unusual for me – especially if I like a story – I want to find out what happens next without reading all the scene setup.

I liked it well enough that I am now “reading” the second in the series: Fool Moon, on my iPod Touch. It is a great story to listen to as I do my daily walks. Harder to skip to the good stuff when you are walking, but great entertainment as I get my exercise.

This is the book I’m reading right now. It started out a little slow and I put it down twice before I picked it up the third time and kept right on reading. It’s getting better and I’m interested to see how the story plays out.

The story is set in Iceland (imagine that!) around 1000 A.D. and focuses on two main female characters. One is a goddess, Freya, and the other a human, Fulla. Freya’s story is a quest for a gold necklace which is supposed to save mankind and Fulla is a teenage girl on the cusp of her first love. Mixed in with all this is the tension of the “new religion” of Christianity and the “old ways” and the conflict that this causes.

I’ll let you know how I like it when I finish. I am finding, now, that I wish I knew more about Icelandic myth and their traditional faith – I think the story would be more enjoyable if I wasn’t spending so much time trying to figure out who was who as I read.

I also have this checked out from the library

The Sheen on the Silk (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)

and am planning to read it next.

What are you reading?

tap, tap, tap… Is this thing on?

Hi, everyone…

I promise I haven't been abducted by aliens.

Just busy.

It's the end of my company's fiscal year, the end of the kids' school year, and SuperMan's job is keeping him out until late in the evening.

Add all that up and I have had little to no time for blogging, reading, scrapbooking, or any of my other favorite pasttimes.

But don't you worry. Life is good for us right now and I WILL be back.

I just have to let my life slow back down a bit.

Be patient with me.

Please?

If only…

If only I loved flip flops.

If only I loved flip flops, I would have an unending supply of cutesy summer shoes.

If only I loved flip flops, I would have easy on/off protection for my tootsies when walking on hot pavement.

I only I loved flip flops, I would be able to snarf up all these cute shoes I see in the stores.

But I don’t.

I think I have had old woman feet since I was a child.

I don’t like that thingy that goes between your toes. It makes me nuts.

So, I can’t wear flip flops.

I am resigned to the fact that I must wear sandals that don’t cause my toes separation anxiety.

It is a challenge, and once I find a pair that fit, I usually wear them until they fall apart.

The last pair lasted me almost 10 years – and I’d be wearing them this summer again if my geriatric cat hadn’t mistaken them for a litter box.

Ahem.

They are now filling up a landfill somewhere. Stinky.

So, I am on the hunt for new sandals this summer. Something that is cute, feminine and most importantly, comfortable.

Something like these:

Or these:

Not really.

Who on earth would by these?

And, while I’m on the subject, what is up with all the gladiator sandals out there right now?

Makes my tootsies cringe when I see them. All I can think about is that it is bondage for your feet. And all those little straps; I can only imagine how they’d feel after a couple hours’ wear.

Ouch.

I guess they are marketing them to the teenage crowd who hasn’t learned the lesson many of us 40-somethings have: Comfort is more important than fashion.

Ah, well.

Off to find some sandals for my feet.

There’s Something Fishy Going On

The girls had a field trip this past weekend with the Girl Scouts.

This was one of those field trips best left to SuperMan to handle.

There were bugs.

and dirt.

and worms.

Not my kind of gig.

Picture 007_edited-1 But SuperMan and the girls had a blast.

The Little Princess caught three fish. (and touched a worm!) Big Girl caught two fish. (and didn’t touch any worms, thankyouverymuch!)

Me? I went shopping.

Where in the heck have I been?

Hi, there. If you subscribe to my blog or read it regularly, you are probably wondering if I fell of the face of the earth. Well, I am here to assure you that I haven’t. I’ve just been crazy busy at work and spending a lot of time outdoors with the girls in the evenings.

Amazingly, this is the first year that I have not been miserable with allergies in the springtime and I am making the most of it. I have been walking in the evenings, playing with the dogs (and kids) and just enjoying the balmy springtime weather and sunshine. I don’t like the heat, so I am enjoying the outdoors before it gets hot and muggy – which it will soon, I am sure.

Although, you never know… I may find I like the heat this year. All sorts of things are changing about me – it is almost as if I am blossoming into a new person. Nice, kinda neat, and definitely interesting.

Last week was spring break for the girls. I took half of the week off and we played, shopped, and visited the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. We love that aquarium and although we have one close to home as well, we prefer the one in Chattanooga. I think it is partly because we like the downtown ambiance in Chattanooga and because they have an awesome children’s museum and other great things to do (like the zoo, which is being remodeled and looks promising)

Here are some pictures from our adventure last week.

I had fun playing with the settings on my camera. The nice thing about going to the aquarium so often is that I wasn’t worried about missing a shot of something because I probably already have 5 or 6 of those very same things from years past. So, it was a good opportunity to start pressing buttons and finding out what happened. IMGP2416 IMGP2423

I figured out how to change the “film speed” on the camera. How weird is that? “film speed” on a digital camera? Anyway, it was neat to see how I could use that to take some low-light pictures without the flash. Now, I just have to figure out the sweet spot so I don’t get the graininess you see in some of these pictures. IMGP2421 IMGP2420

No scrapbooking planned right now. I am pretty well “caught up” on things (except these recent pictures) and it is hard to justify being inside scrapbooking when it is so beautiful outside.

It’s been one of those days

Last week was spring break for the girls. I took a few days off and my mom came for a visit. We had a great time. It was so relaxing and fun and just total down-time for all of us. Wonderful.

Then, today, we are all back to the grindstone. And, it has been one of those days.

Know the kind I mean?

Where you feel like all of the planets in the universe are aligned against you?

Where everything you do seems to go upside down and backwards?

Where the harder you work, the worse things get?

Well, that is how today has been.

Sigh.

And it’s too late to go to bed and start all over again.

So, I will just soldier on and hope tomorrow is better. It has to be.

Right?

(please!?!)