• TV Shows I Tried, but Couldn’t Get Into

    For my 13th Thursday 13, I thought I would confess some of the TV shows that I have watched, or TRIED to watch, but just couldn’t get into over the last several years. Yes, there are gratuitous Buffy references, when obviously, Buffy does not belong on this list. So sue me. 1. Desperate Housewives. I tried a few episodes, and I liked it at the beginning, but when Terri Hatcher’s character got stuck outside naked in the bushes, I just thought it was too dumb, and stopped watching. 2. Grey’s Anatomy. Everyone loves this show, and maybe I should have tried another season, but we rented season one, and found…

  • An Unmade Bed…

      Gina wrote recently of her love for a clean, uncluttered top of the fridge.  She hates to have stuff up there, where some folks might not even notice.  Py cannot stand to have any miscellaneous items in the car.  Car must be clean and uncluttered at all times.  The house? Not such an issue for him (as long as the bathroom is clean, he’s OK).  Maya’s Granny likes to have all of her books alphabetized.  Not sure if she still sorts her clothes the way she used to…with different colored hangers for different seasons or whatever… My sister likes to have EVERYTHING very clean, organized, and put in its proper…

  • DVD Weekend…

    I’m slowly renouncing my claim to her, and all that I had hoped for in the world. ~ Jules and Jim. There’s nothing like a good French film to give you poignant little tidbits like that, huh? But I’m getting ahead of myself. Friday, after going to Stockton to see my Grandma, and after the presentation I had to give on Thursday (which was really no big deal, but that didn’t stop me from getting very tense about it), I was ready to relax on the sofa and watch a good romantic comedy. Something frothy and light and sweet. Unfortunately, we watched “Must Love Dogs” instead. This film can best…

  • My Grandma

    I am a very fortunate person, in that I still have both of my Grandmothers. I don’t know a lot of 40 year olds who can say that, and I suspect that most of those that do, count themselves as lucky as well. My Grandma Wells is the one I told you about last month, she of the cole slaw and turning 90 and all. She is my father’s mother. The beautiful woman in this picture is my Grandma Ward, who is my mother’s mother. This picture was taken at the time of her marriage, when she was only 18 years old. My Grandma Ward is much in my thoughts…

  • What’s in a Name?

    Over at Gina’s blog yesterday, she asked this question: “For what Latin number is October named?” Well, I knew the answer, but not quickly enough to win any points on her ongoing trivia game. Dang. It got me to thinking about the names of the months, though, and how interesting the first 8 are, and then how…boring…the last 4 are. Interested? I found this on Encyclopedia Mythica. Tell me that naming a month after its place on the calendar (like October, for the 8th month) is as interesting as March being named for a Roman god, Mars. I won’t believe you. January Named after the Roman god of beginnings and…

  • Sunday Cooking

    I had a request in the comments from yesterday’s post for Indian recipes.  I don’t cook much Indian food, so I’m not much help.  However, my mother-in-law recently gave me a recipe for yummy eggplant.  She doesn’t cook from a cookbook, doesn’t measure, so you’ll have to just figure it out.  It’s not hard, and very yummy. Bolange* 1 globe eggplant, whole 2 or 3 cloves garlic, sliced 2 or 3 tomatoes, whole 1/2 small onion salt and pepper Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poke holes in the eggplant, insert garlic slices into holes. Place eggplant and tomatoes on a baking sheet. Roast in 350 degree oven until eggplant gets…

  • Happy Diwali

        Today is Diwali, the Indian ‘Festival of Lights’.  We will celebrate by going to Ted’s parents’ house, lighting lights to welcome the gods and blessings, and then we’ll have a nice meal. If you’re craving Indian food today, maybe this is why. ;)  Happy Diwali!

  • Madonner (That’s Madonna with a cockney accent, if you’re confused…)

    I don’t have much today. I went and gave my presentation last night, which went OK, but I was nervous all day, so it sucked my energy dry. I received a phone call that my poor Grandma had fallen and hurt herself (she’s going to be OK, no broken bones, but still, she fell pretty darned hard), which was very upsetting because I love her to pieces, and that kind of took what energy I might have had left. And it’s only Friday, not Saturday, so I have a bunch of work to do today, blah blah blah. SO, I’m going to post today, because you know, the world would…

  • Thirteen Thursday Tidbits

    1. I had a dream the other night that I died. The good news is that there is an afterlife, and everyone I know and love was there. The bad news is that apparently we still have to work, pay bills, and buy groceries. WTF? 2. Maya and I have been fighting lately about her getting out of bed in the morning. Meaning, I go in and try to wake her up with kisses, then words, and finally I give up and yell. Don’t tell me, because I know, she should use her alarm clock. She turns it off and goes back to sleep. It takes her about 1/2 hour…

  • Parenting Landmines

    The other day I wrote a post about Maya saying she hated her face. She has since read the post, and told me that she doesn’t USUALLY hate her face, she really only hated her face that day because it had mosquito bites on it, and they were ugly. That’s a relief, and really, who wants to walk around with mosquito bites on their face? Thinking about all of this brought up another issue to me….the issue of our intentions vs. their effects. How we try our best to be supportive, loving, encouraging parents, and sometimes, we just can’t quite get it right. Sometimes I think that’s because the advice…

  • Halloween Candy

    I was at the grocery store the other day, and passed by the piles and piles of fun sized candy, ready to be bought a bit too early, brought home and eaten, and for the eaters of said candy to come back and buy some more. I was thinking about how nice a tiny little Baby Ruth would taste, or maybe an Almond Joy. I’m looking forward to after Halloween, when our ‘candy cow’ is full of yummy candy. Most of it will be from Maya’s trick or treating, and some will be the leftovers from our failure to get anyone to come this far back into a little condo…

  • Self Esteem

    [youtube]MFPGa0pKyTg[/youtube] Apropos of my post the other day, my mom sent me this for Maya. Pretty cool, huh?

  • Weekend…

    I wish all weekends could be three day weekends. More specifically, I wish this had been a three day weekend. No worries, though, because we had a lovely time, and got in some touristy stuff, some shopping, and some loafing. 🙂 We started out with Friday night…Ted and LaLuna made a lovely hamburger dinner, which we enjoyed at S’s house, while we watched Battlestar Galactica. Lovely. We had a nice time, and S opened a wonderful bottle of red wine for us to enjoy. After we got home, Maya went to bed, and Ted and I watched Lost, which we had taped on Wednesday. Saturday, I woke up with a…

  • Looking Good

    LaLuna has two wonderful daughters, Big Sis and Chee. In so many families, each person has a role, i.e., “The pretty one”, “The smart one”, “The funny one”…in this case, they are both pretty, smart, talented, and funny, so she’s obviously doing something right. Chee has always been interested in fashion…when she was little, she used to like to talk to me about my clothes…”Auntie J, I like your shoes…” that kind of thing. She used to like showing people her newest outfit, and she would come out and say, “This is how I look.” Just matter of fact, satisfied and happy with her appearance. I wish that confidence could…

  • Thirteen Thoughts

    My brain is scattered today, like the birds screaming outside of my window…a big raucous mess that occasionally gels and quiets down, and then start screeching again. Not sure what’s up with them, or with me, but this is the best I can do today. Thirteen Random Thoughts: 1. I’ve decided to try life without Diet Coke (not all at once…no need to evacuate the region). I know, I already cut back on the wine consumption (not giving it up, just cutting back). I think I was out of whack with how much I was consuming of both of these things anyway. BUT, don’t worry. I won’t be giving up…