I went shopping today. It was a new store that just opened in the neighborhood.
The fish looked fresh and delicious. It was priced at $1 a piece but I was given a coupon for 4/$10 at the door. A bargain!
I had a 2/$1 coupon for cookies.
I scraped up enough self-control to pass up the pastries and caramel apples.
Summer is the best time for fresh produce.
The best part was the friendly service.
Camping last week brought us lots of opportunity to geocache. We found...
One of the cleverest hides:
Beach boardwalk hides:
Cemetary hides:
We have always loved visiting cemetaries. Some of our friends think it is weird but it is such a wonderful sense of history and awe to wander through an old cemetary and think about the lives represented there. This cache brought us to an unmarked crypt. The hide was at the back of it.
The view of the inside through that tiny window:
And of course we found some time for the beach.
Somehow, someway I have arrived at the ripe age of (mumble, mumble) without reading any of Jane Austen's shorter, lesser known works. Of course I have read her major novels, analyzed them and written forgotten papers about them in the pursuit of my college degree. Recently I read her novella Lady Susan
Composed entirely of letters written by four or five of the main players in the novel, I found it to be a nice diversion on a lovely summer afternoon. The title character, Lady Susan, is a conniving, selfish woman whose only goal in life is to manipulate those around her. I found myself sucked into the story; I desperately wished for a scene akin to the one in the film Dangerous Liasons where Glenn Close's character sits at her dressing table, humiliated and scorned, wiping the makeup off of her face. I will leave it to you to read Lady Susan to see if she is brought down in such a dramatic way. One of Austen's earlier works, the novella lacks the depth and polish of her later novels and ends a little weakly. However, it is, like all Austen, worth the read.
You know how when you type a word and it just looks wrong? And the more you look at the word it just seems wronger and wronger more wrong? That happened to me this morning as I was leaving a comment here. The word in question was "funny". What is with that word? Why does it look so weird to me today? Where did it come from?
Lacking a personal copy of the OED, I decided to consult Mr. Google.
Dictionary.com says this (paraphrased):
The word originates from 1750-1760 and is (naturally) derived from the word fun.
Fun originates from 1675-85 and is a variant of the word fon:to befool.
Fon appears around 1300 derived from fonnen: to be foolish. Originally it meant to lose flavor or be sour.
So there you go. Sour to humorous. Thus is the nature of the English language. It makes more sense to me if I consider some of its synonyms: curious, odd, crazy, unfriendly, ill, strange, peculiar.
The Online Etymology Dictionary says this:
funny
"humorous," 1756, from fun (q.v.). Meaning "strange, odd" in 1806, said to be originally U.S. Southern. The two senses of the word lead to the retort question "funny ha-ha or funny peculiar," which is attested from 1938. Funny farm "mental hospital" is slang from 1963. Funny bone "elbow end of the humerus" is 1840; funnies "newspaper comic strips" is from 1852.
fun
1685, v., "to cheat, hoax," probably a variant of M.E. fon "befool" (c.1400), later "trick, hoax, practical joke," of uncertain origin. Stigmatized by Johnson as "a low cant word." Older sense is preserved in phrase to make fun of and funny money "counterfeit bills" (1938, though this may be more for the sake of the rhyme); sense of "amusement" is 1727. See also funny.
See? This is how I spend my time. No wonder it is 9:00am and I have done nothing but drink some coffee. A little embarrassing but I am going to hit publish anyway and display for the world what a word geek I am.
The notebook (THE NOTEBOOK!) has been found!
FOUND!
I can hardly believe it. It is sitting on the kitchen island even now. I haven't opened it yet; perhaps I fear that it isn't really there. I saw my doctor yesterday and she handed me a fat envelope with my name on it. The front desk had asked her to give it to me. I guess I must have carried it in for my appointment two months ago and left it. But I was SO SURE I had left it in the car. Talk about feeling crazy. Despite my assurance that I never carried it into the office, I called TWICE to see if it was there and they said no. Yet there it was, being handed to me by my doctor who looked slightly bemused when I squealed and gave it a little hug.
I am only slightly disconcerted by the fact that someone had to read it thoroughly to figure out it was mine. My name wasn't in it but my doctors' first names were. They must have deduced it was me with that info combined with detailed writings about the meds I am on and how I react to them.
Let's not think about it.
My ever-wise mom assured me that there was a reason it was taken from me--that I had something to learn from the experience. She's right, of course. We made the decision yesterday to fuss with my meds again so I'm looking at a couple of difficult weeks coming up. So maybe my notebook was returned to me just at the right moment.
And now for something completely different...
My crafty bloglines folder recently had over 800 unread posts in it. Here are a few things that I bookmarked:
Every letter I send is truly a valuable document. I think I should envelope them in these.
A fun way to decorate the garden with sticks.
Girlkiddo and her cousin came in the house yesterday with tiny individual blossoms from a hydrangea. Perfect for this.
I make these nummy cookies every Christmas with my mom's recipe. This is a great summertime take on them. These cookies are delicious straight from the freezer. I shouldn't make them because they are like crack-cookies for me. But should my kids be deprived because of my lack of self-control? Don't they deserve inside-out neopolitan ice cream sandwiches? But the temptation! But the fabulously new summer treat! Aaaaargh! I can't decide. Help!
Hey there! We are still rockin' the summer thing. Last night we had what felt like the world here for a sleep-over but it was actually three extra kids and required no work on my part. Older kids are great. They get their own food, entertain themselves, and deal with the consequences of not going to sleep at a reasonable hour by themselves (mostly). It was easier last night, too, because The Loved was gone. He gets a little tense if kids are still wandering around the house when we go to bed. That doesn't bother me that much; I eventually went to bed last night after informing them that wrath would rain down on them if they woke me up. But I did wake up with a migraine, took meds, and stayed in bed with earplugs and mask until 10am. I assume the kids got themselves some breakfast. Did I mention how much I like having older kids? Now the girls are working up a dance routine--is there anything that is more 10-year-old girl than that?
I had my second Gold Canyon party this week and it was so fun! These parties are a blast to give and the candles virtually sell themselves. Mostly because they are so high quality and reasonably priced--much better that some other candle companies that shall remain nameless. I highly recommend finding a demonstrator near you and checking them out. The Loved asked me to take down the link to my Gold Canyon website because it has all my personal info on it but if you'd like to see it just let me know. So far I am loving the challenge of a new venture.
And now I will go shower and start the day. Friends are coming over tonight and we are doing an asian theme: california rolls, bbq pork, skewers with thai ginger marinade, etc. And then an all-American dessert: strawberry shortcake. Num.
The Loved and I have a document in which we keep all our important online passwords and links. It primarily contains financial information: banking accounts, insurance info, contact numbers. Everything vital is on that document in case one of us dies.
"Should I put my blog info on that document?" I asked The Loved one day.
"Why would you do that?" was his puzzled response.
"So that if I die, you can let my readers know."
Now his look turned incredulous. "If you die, your blog is the least of my worries."
So now you know. If I die you'll have to figure it out on your own.
This post is mostly to say--I haven't died. Summer is such a great time to sit on the deck with a book and a cool drink. I hope you are getting plenty of deck/book/cool drink time too.
The Loved, reading the paper:
I hate sentences like this: "What are fashion forward gardeners planting in their containers this summer?" It started off as an interesting article about planting in pots.
And then they ruined it.
I've always considered myself a procrastinator by nature. I believed that my procrastination was a permanent flaw that I would constantly battle. And rarely overcome. Reading The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now
Procrastination is not an inherent part of your personality or character; it is simply a habit, an attitude. Can people change habits? Of course they can! Millions of people have stopped smoking, even though that habit is extremely hard to break. Can people change attitudes? Sure. Do you know anyone who used to think owning a VCR or sending email was unnecessary, yet now--several years later--can't imagine living without either?
Okay! So I guess I can change. Some of my take-aways:
"The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself." So true! I find myself wasting time, eating cookies, reading blogs, wandering around--anything to avoid the task. In the end I feel guilty and still have to do the task.
Do the jobs you hate to do first. Just get it over with. "Visualize the relief and sense of accomplishment you will feel once it is done."
Identify trouble areas--do you put off a task because one part of it is a trouble area? It is funny how immobilizing it can be when, in addition to the task, you have to exert a lot of energy finding the tools or the space to do it. I realized that I put off a lot of tasks in the office because my desk and the ironing board are always loaded with stuff. If I kept at least one surface clean I would have a place to do what needs to be done in there. "Buy what you need for those trouble areas. Sometimes happiness is having an extra pair of scissors."
Make a list of 101 things that you've been meaning to do. Ack! Making a list like that seems overwhelming but it actually is freeing. "Anytime you start feeling overwhelmed with things to do, you need to write that list. As long as everything is floating around in your head, you can't think straight, and soon guilt and anxiety muddle your thinking." I can attest to the power of the list. It wasn't 101 things but I posted a couple weeks ago about the stress I was feeling because of all the things I needed to do. I ended up printing that post and scheduling time to do all the things. Then I was freed up to do what I needed to do that day and stopped worrying about the rest.
Fear plays a huge role in the life of the procrastinator. Some of the fears she discusses are:
I am amazed at how much of my procrastination is due to fear. She advises:
Ask yourself "What am I afraid of?" Giving it a name often takes away the power it holds over you. Then ask yourself "What if my worst fear came true in the most horrible way?"
I'm going to have to chew on this one for awhile; some of my answers to that last question seem to support my procrastination. For example, I need/want to start exercising again. What I am afraid of is injury and pain--I have had two major injuries that have taken years to recover from. I don't want pain again. But I do want to be strong again. Sigh--It is easiest just to throw up my hands and sit on the couch.
Let's wrap this thing up
Emmett covers ways to deal with procrastination such as using rewards to motivate yourself, breaking jobs into smaller parts, working to music or with a friend, submerging yourself in positive self-talk, and exploding excuses.
She also discusses other reasons for procrastination, time management, decluttering your home and life, how procrastination affects your finances, and achieving your dreams.
The Procrastinator's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now
It seems that one week a month I have the pleasure of experiencing very vivid dreams. Last month they were filled with family members dying and natural disasters wreaking havoc--sometimes both in the same dream.
Last night, though, I dreampt about another blogger. I was back in my parent's house and this blogger lived across the street. She was late for school because her mom was drunk and wouldn't get out of bed and she didn't drive. She started to walk to school and was about a mile away when I caught up to herand said that I would drive her but she needed to come back to my house and wait for my sister to get ready before we could leave. Our house was a disaster and I was embarrassed that this was the first time the blogger had seen where I live. I came out of my room and she was folded up into a box, all bony arms and legs hanging out while my mom sewed a blouse at the kitchen table. Did I mention that the blogger was wearing a pleather mini-dress with a keyhole cutout in the back?
Can you guess who the blogger is? (Scroll down.)
Beck!
