Beach Music

Oh, to read.  The journey of reading through a great book is one that finds me tearing through the words as quickly as I can consume them, only hoping that the story will never end.  A desire to know each character deeply and intimately, yet have the pages infinite.

That is how I felt while reading this book.

I almost don't want to share it with you.

A little prevew:  Beach Music is a novel about a foodie, Jack McCall, and his life following the suicide of his wife.  It goes forward from there by taking you back to the how and why of where he is today, intermixed with stories of his current life.  From Rome to South Carolina, Jack's story unfolds as all of the "characters" in his life share their stories.

The Holocaust.  My heart breaks to think that we as a people ever fell that far from humanity.  The pain and anguish of that time still lingers.

Schizophrenia.  It has its talons in a large number of people.  It affects even more than that with the families and friends of those who are afflicted.

The Vietnam War.  Who would I have been if I had been in college during those tumultuous days?  A hippie?  A supporter?

Parents.  Most of us suck at our job.  It's tough to admit.  It's even tougher to be on the receiving end of bad parenting.

Forgiveness. 

Redemption.



Now, I have to admit I've never read any other books by Pat Conroy.  Some of the reviews I read of this book have me shaking my head...were we reading the same book?  Sometimes what seems overdone or contrived in a book is the most realistic part of a story; the way we each look at the world is through a filter.  And that is how I see the characters of this book, as being "filtered" through the eyes of Jack McCall.

Now I need a day or so to mourn the ending of a great book.  

For those of you who read, I'm sure you understand.

Next Blog

Have you wondered why I changed the welcome to my blog?  A little note to those who find us by way of pushing that little arrow at the top of the screen.

I started noticing more and more visits from around the world.  And I then noticed that quite a few of them entered my site via "next blog".

So why not welcome them?  Entice them to stop pushing the button and stick around for awhile?  

Maybe they'll like it here.

Maybe they won't.

Only way to find out is if they read a bit further than the title!

So, did YOU find your way here by way of "Next blog"?

We love visitors around here!  Stay awhile.  Do a little perusing.

I'm not posting as often for the summer, 
but there is quite a bit of catching up for you to do!

Growing up too fast

Tonight I was getting JMonster ready for bed, brushing his teeth, putting on his nighttime pull-up, etc... when he asked:

"Mommy, how long is it going to take?"

(Very impatient tone of voice.)

"How long is WHAT going to take, buddy?"

"For me to be a teenager."

"A teenager?  When you're 13 you become a teenager."

"Oh."

"Why do you want to be a teenager?"

"So I can drive."

"Drive what?"

"A car!"

He's 4.

I never would have thought it would start this early...

Pink Eye!

So far this summer the weather has been the bane of my swimming lessons.  I've lost more money to rain and thunder than I care to think about.

But now I have Pink Eye.

I woke up with it yesterday...

And this is what my eye looks like after almost 30 hours of the strongest eye drops you can get.

Still not good.

Two days of lessons lost to an eye infection!

What next!?!

Elimination Diet Update...

I did my time.  

I stayed away from pretty much everything for 30 days.  

And now I'm adding foods back in.

You start with the "simple" foods...

and work your way up to dairy and wheat.

The last food I added was corn.

Who would have thought CORN would be a problem?

Not me!

Except, every time I eat it I feel nauseated.

Not nauseous.  I hate it when people use that word incorrectly.

Nauseated.

No more corn.

On to soy!

Perfect Pairings

Proverbs 17:17
 A friend loves at all times...

Ups...and Downs

Yesterday the 10 day forecast showed rain for 8 out of the next 10 days...including today.

It didn't rain today.

(Excuse me, I mean...)

It didn't rain today!  Wahoo!

Whew! 

I already lost %#!@ $$ for the 2 rain days we had not being able to teach my swimming lessons.  

8 more days of this?

Today the 10 day forecast showed rain for 2 out of the next 10 days.

Hmmmm...

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

So, I spent much of my free time these past 2 days looking for a place to stay on our summer vacation.

Looking for hotels and rental houses online is frustrating.  

Enough to give you a headache the size of Texas.

And I have nothing to show for it.

Except the headache, of course...

Oops!

I was such a good girl today.

I washed our sheets since I've been sick the past few days.

Wanted to sterilize them.

Even moved them to the dryer.

And then washed the blanket and body pillow covers.

And here is where it all fell apart...

I forgot to take the sheets out of the dryer.

If I HAD I would have noticed that they are still not dry.

Which means the blanket and pillow cover are still soaking wet.

And it's time for bed.

Oops.

Meet One of my BFF's

Let me introduce you to one of my BFF's right now.  Cherrybrook Kitchen's gluten free (and peanut, tree nut, dairy, egg, soy, corn, etc...free) cupcakes made from the chocolate cake mix are THE BEST cupcakes I've ever had.  Hands down.  And I don't even like cake.

They actually taste a bit like a brownie.  Only...not quite.  They have a lovely crunchy top and a moist, melt in your mouth middle.

Not too sweet.  Not too "cakey".  The perfect blend of chocolate.

I hope I didn't make you drool all over your keyboard!

(And I'm not even getting paid to do an endorsement!  Maybe one day my reviews will warrant $.  Nah.)

Chocolate syrup recipe

Every night since I started this elimination diet I've had a chocolate cupcake.  I made them from boxed cake mixes that fit into the diet.  And believe it or not, they are YUMMY!

I ran out.

I have another box of mix, but no canola oil.  

And you just CANNOT use olive oil for cupcakes.

So tonight, yes tonight, I had to find a substitute for my cupcake.

I made chocolate syrup and ate it with blueberries and cut up apples.

Mmmmm...

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup sugar (I used stevia instead and just used less since it is so sweet)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 dash salt

Directions

1. Combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
2. Add water, and mix until smooth.
3. Bring this mixture to a boil.
4. Allow it to boil for one minute, be careful this does not over boil.
5. Remove from heat, when this cools add the vanilla.

ENJOY!!

Perfect Pairings

   The earth is the LORD's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. ~Psalm 24:1‑2

Quality work?

As most of you know we are currently living in the mother-in-law portion of my twin sister's house.  It's a nice house.  A VERY nice house.

And yet, some of the work that went in to it was, hmmm...how do we put it so we don't get into some sort of legal trouble?  Less than stellar?  Shoddy? 

This morning the tile guys are coming back...almost two years after they put in the floor.  The grout is coming out and there is junk underneath it.  And I mean junk.  Bits of stuff that wasn't swept up before the grout was put in.

Who woulda thunk?

You pay a whole heckuva lot of money for a house, and they don't do any better of a job than if you paid very little for the house.

Whatever happened to pride in work?

Whatever happened to quality?

It went the way of customer service...

Prisoner of Summer

This is a reminder that I am a Prisoner of Summer 2010!  (P.O.S.)

That means...cut me some slack!

I was a prisoner last summer, too.

Remember?

Summer Swimming Lessons BEGIN!

I've been teaching swimming lessons for the past 3 weeks, but only to 3 kiddos.

Today begins the real onslaught of lessons!

I will be teaching on average 7-10 lessons Monday - Friday.

I still hope to post frequently.

Forgive me if I don't!

Oh the joys of SUMMER!