All the news that's fit to print

ACHTUNG! Bullet Point Numero Three contains some salty language, but it's totally in context. But I figured I'd give y'all heads up if you want to skip it, but I'm warning you- you're missing out on a polarious story if you do.

1. Next week is our last week of total freedom. BOO! The preschool teachers are back on the 10th (with the kids coming back on the 17th) and the girls start back on the 14th. All the school supplies have been purchased and sorted into backpacks, and we're already thinking of First Day of School outfits.

2. Despite the fact that I've been out in the sun regularly all summer, somehow I still managed to get a sunburn yesterday. What's up with that, Mother Nature?

3. Bella has become (somewhat) enamored of the word 'bitch'. It started a few weeks ago when we were listening to DH in the car, and she said that Molly's line to Bellatrix )"Not my daughter, you bitch!!") was her favorite part of the story, and then she proceeded to scream out said line. (It was seriously polarious.)

So James and I explained that it wasn't a nice word to say and that she shouldn't go around saying it, but we tried to explain why Molly Weasley would have used that word in the context of the story. She thought about it for a moment and said, "Oh, okay. But I thought Molly had just combined the words "Bellatrix" and "witch" and then called her a 'bitch'. I thought it was pretty funny." To which James and I had to give her props for such clever thinking.

4. This Pop Candy post had me LOL-ing all over the place, and now I kinda-sorta want to go to a Gwar concert, just to say that I have.

5. For the third month in a row, our power bill has stayed below $200! YAY!!! That has never happened the whole time we have lived in Albany, and that's also *with* the Georgia Power rate hike that happened earlier in the year. We've been careful with the electricity, but not overly so. The only thing we can chalk it up to is our new roof, so YAY for that. We have just one more month to get through before the rates drop after the summer, and typically our August bill is lower than May, June or July's so I'm feeling optimistic.

Perhaps my heart *is* cold and dead???

It seems like everyone and their brother are OMG!!SO EXCITED!!!11!1!! for the Where the Wild Things Are movie. The latest effusive post was over at Bookshelves of Doom. I mean, this isn't the first post where people are confessing that they are breaking down and *sobbing* at just the trailer. While I absolutely love the book (it was the first children's picture book I ever bought for myself) I'm not feeling the love for the movie.

I think my biggest problem is that the Wild Things look about as real as the costumed characters at Disney World. It doesn't matter how awesome the costume is if you still see it was nothing but a costume. :\ (Heh heh. My friend Pam just compared them to football mascots. TRUE.)

However, the girls want to see it, so see it we (most likely) will.

Soothing the savage beast...

I was tagged for the survey by my friend Sara, and since I'm trying to avoid a massive pile of laundry I figured I'd jump all over it. :P

Once you have been tagged, you are supposed to write down 25/30 songs you cannot live without. You know, the ones you can listen to over and over and never get tired of. They don't have to be in any particular order. These are the songs that make you laugh, cry, think of an old friend, whatever the reason.

1. With or Without You - U2
2. Elevator Love Letter - Stars
3. 59th Street Bridge Song - Simon and Garfunkel
4. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. The Way You Look Tonight - Tony Bennett
6. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
7. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
8. Fields of Gold - Sting
9. I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
10. Fools Rush In - Elvis Presley
11. Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
12. Love Me do - The Beatles
13. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World - U2
14. Daughter - Loudon Wainwright III
15. If I Had a $1,000,00 - Barenaked Ladies
16. Heart of the Matter- Don Henley
17. Gotta Have You - The Weepies
18. The Sweetest Thing - U2
19. Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
20. Wonderwall - Oasis
21. By Your Side - Sade
22. Photograph - Def Leppard
23. Yellow - Coldplay
24. Regret - New Order
25. One - U2
26. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
27. Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
28. Easy Silence - Dixie Chicks
29. I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
30. Whatever It Is - Ben Lee


1. With or Without You: Of *course* U2 is going to be at the top of the list. I CANNOT WAIT to hear this song in person in October. Do you know what thought? I was talking to 15 year old girl the other day, and she had didn't know who U2 was! SHE HAD NEVER HEARD THIS SONG. What is this generation coming to??!!?!??!?
2. Elevator Love Letter: Even though this song isn't exactly happy, I've loved it ever since I heard it for the first time.
3. 59th Street Bridge Song: You can't listen to this song and not be happy. It's impossible.
4. Bad Moon Rising: This song reminds me of my dad.
5. The Way You Look Tonight: It's a classic.
6. Wicked Game: I wonder if this song would have been as popular without the classic video?? At any rate, it's a downright sexy song.
7. Everywhere: Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie kill the harmonies. Amazing.
8. Fields of Gold: Sting at his best
9. I'll Fly Away: Anothing song with amazing harmonies.
10. Fools Rush In: James says this is "our song".
11. Come On Get Higher: Let me tell you how obsessed I have been with this song this summer. TOTALLY OBSESSED. It's the ultimate sexytime song. GUH GUH GUH
12. Love Me do: This was the first Beatles song I really loved
13. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World: This U2 song is a gem that is underappreciated.
14. Daughter: The girls play this on iTunes all the time. I love that it has meaning for them.
15. If I Had a $1,000,00: This is probably our family's "theme song". We love it so much we took the name of our family blog from it.
16. Heart of the Matter: Longing and regret and missed opportunities
17. Gotta Have You: Another duo with lovely harmonies
18. The Sweetest Thing: I love that Bono wrote this for his wife Ali as an apology for missing her birthday.
19. Sweet Home Alabama: You can't be from the south and not love this song. It's in our DNA.
20. Wonderwall: I couldn't decide between the Oasis and the Ryan Adams version. In the end Oasis wins, just because the idea of Liam or Noel Gallagher being devoted enough to someone to write this song is a miracle in and of itself.
21. By Your Side: Dude. It's Sade. 'Nuff said.
22. Photograph: It's bombastic and over the top and I love it.
23. Yellow: I'm now realizing this list is heavy on the slow emotional jams. :P
24. Regret: I literally can not NOT dance when this song comes up on iTunes.
25. One: This song is genius. Pure genius. I didn't appreciate it until I got older.
26. Here Comes the Sun: George Harrison doesn't get enough credit for his contributions
27. Birdhouse in Your Soul: Another "family" song. I love to hear Isabella sing it.
28. Easy Silence: Natalie Maines kills it.
29. I'm On Fire: I like Bruce, and I can appreciate his contribution to music and all that, but his music isn't really my thing. That being said, I love this song.
30. Whatever It Is: A new favorite that will stick around for a very long time.

I'm going to tag Gawdun, Tahmi, Travis, Jed and Lora.

Family: It's About Time

We had EIGHT member of James' side of the family come to visit us last week. It was his mom, his sister Melanie and her five kids, and our nephew Mason, who belongs to James' sister Tahmi. Plus the four of us that made for TWELVE people in our little house! It was a squeeze, but I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all.

We had plans to go camping overnight at the beach, but our van's A/C decided to give out on Wednesday, and then quit working altogether on Thursday, and it all wasn't fixed until Friday. :( Instead, we took them downtown to Turtle Park, then to Chehaw were it was evidentally Alligator mating season! There wasn't any mating going on, but there were a LOT of territorial fights- I've *never* seen the gators so active before! It was crazy! Being from the desert, the relatives were suitably impressed.

On Saturday we went over to Tifton and swam and played and ate and ate. The weather was PERFECT- low humidity, nice breezes. We were very lucky! After church on Sunday it was time for them to pack up and head home. They had been gone for three weeks (after visiting Tahmi in Michigan, too) and they were ready to hit the road.

I wasn't on my game for the weekend, and I only took ONE picture- can you believe it? Here are all of the kids, downtown:

I thought about titling this post "Unto Us A Child Is Born" but thought that might be sacrilegious

At any rate, we have a new niece! Meghan Kinley Vicars joined the fam yesterday, much to the delight of everyone except Frodo, but who cares what he thinks anyway?






Isn't she sweet? She even had her first dirty diaper while we were there last night, so we got to introduce the girls to the wonder that is Meconium! Good times all around.

The best part came when we were leaving the hospital. The hospital in Tifton has huge protraits on the walls of the families of hospital staff members and benefactors. Underneath each picture is a brass nameplate. As we were walking out, we noticed this picture and nameplate:





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Who knew Lord Voldemort setteled in Tifton GA for awhile??

Half Blood Prince Premier

It's no secret that we are HUGE Harry Potter fans in this house, so it's only natural that we break out our HP t-shirts for any HP related shindig.

Did you miss me or something??

Golly! A girl can't even have multiple car repairs, a broken tooth and eight relatives visiting for three days without people missing her! ;)

I've responded to everyone who left a note on my last post, so check those comments. Remember, though, that YOU are supposed to elaborate on the five things I gave you on your OWN blog! It's part of the fun, so don't be a party pooper!

Speaking of party poopers, here's a conversation from this past weekend:

Isabella: "Why do we have to leave now? We're having so much fun!"

James: "I know. I'm just a big party pooper."

Isabella: "Why do you have to be like that?"

Madeline: "It's because of his dietary habits."

Ba dum dum! She'll be here all week, folks!

Bloggity Blog

Association Meme: Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your Blog and elaborate on the subjects given.

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a beautiful lady who faithfully wrote a blog because her mother told her to do so because it made her grandparents happy. Since the beautiful lady would do just about anything if it made her grandparents happy, she started the blog, which turned out to bring much joy and happiness to her minions.

So for many months, the beautiful lady shared her life, sparing no detail, as she was assured repeeatedly that even the tiniest happenings were both informative and exciting. But alas! The beautiful lady eventually found herself in a series of circumstances that kept her from updating her blog! Her minions wept copious amounts of tears as the weeks went by with no updates, so sure were they that she would not return.

The beautiful lady was just as troubled. She hadn't shared the last day of her vacation, which included stops at the Uncle Remus Museum



and Old Clinton Bar-B-Que, where Mike Rowe once did a Dirty Job!


How could she not share these adventures with her faithful minions??

Just as it looked like all hope was lost, the beautiful lady updated! She explained that two of her nieces visited for a week, and when they departed her loyal consort decided that the next week would be the perfect time to update Ye Olde Homestead Kitchen by removing the ugly "popcorn" ceiling, painting the walls, removing the less-than-attractive linoleum and installing tile flooring.





The beautiful lady also explained that a terrible tragedy befell her household in the course of renovation: the DVR hard drive went out and her computer crashed!! The thought of losing everything on her computer (the beautiful lady was a slothful servant when it came to backing things up), combined with the state of her abode






was enough to drive the beautiful lady to her bed and hide under the covers until everything was over and done with. Not even access to the computers at the public library could entice her to update, so depressed was she.

But the lady knew she couldn't shirk her duty. So she got out of bed, rolled up her sleeves, and put her children to work!







The tile was laid, grout was...grouted, furniture was put back in place, the cable man brought a new DVR to the household and the beautiful lady's Computer Guy was able to resurrect her computer without losing anything! It was truly a miraculous time.

The excitement wasn't over, though. The beautiful lady told her minions that they also had a very nice Fourth of July, complete with a spectacular firework display that had one teensy moment of terror when a rogue "Wasp" almost took out all of the great-grandkids and caused the beautiful lady to scream and laugh so hard that she might have wet her pants just a teeny, tiny little bit.

The following day, the beautiful lady, her family and a cousin drove her brother to Alabama so he could attend an X-Camp at the Space and Rocket Museum. Yes! It was the same place the beautiful lady and her family had visited just a month before! The beautiful lady's friend Cindy had found a spot at camp for the brother, and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! It meant driving 800 miles round trip in one day, but it would be worth it, especially since we were able to show the cousin the lovliness that is Poo Point.





The minions thrilled to hear the lady's tale, and they were comforted by her promise never to spend so much time away from them again.

THE END