And Today is....

My Birthday!!
So, of course I had the usual questions:
- do you feel old?
- are you traumatized?
- do your knees squeack when you kneel?!

Well, really I don't see how any of these could possibly apply to me since I'm only turning 36 26. Hehe.
I have been feeling a little weird though lately...a bit like Alice in Wonderland, seeing weird people doing weird things that obviously makes sense to them but not at all to me. And like Alice I'm kind of floating around, feeling in turn curious, giddy, angry, exasperated and finally throwing my arms up in the air in frustration at not quite understanding what these people are all about. Ah well, maybe I'll be more patient and understanding when I grow up :)

Summer Time

The farniente, the hammock, the naps in the hammock, days that last forever with no schedule...
Well, what happened?? Cause my summer doesn't look like that AT ALL. Nope, nada. I haven't even looked at the hammock for 3 weeks. Pffff... I'm hoping that starting next week, summer will feel a bit more like summer should. We'll see :)
In the mean time here is what's happening in the garden these days:








If you click on the pics, particularly the bee one, you'll see how good my new camera is: you can see the grains of pollen and the details of her wings :)

And in the series of....

Events that curiously makes you use "no sleep" and "Miss A" in the same sentence...
Last night 4:30 am:
Miss A: "Papa, papa, wake up!"
Papa: "Mmmmmmm, what's wrong?"
Miss A.: "I just lost a tooth"
Papa and Mama: "What??? How can you lose a tooth at night!?"
Miss A.: "I dreamed about it and then it happened."

And I Present....

The newest member of the family:

He remained nameless for 3 days...and then we had 3 choices Mazi (means Sir in Swahili), Lucky (miss A's choice) and Legolas :Mr T's choice. Of course :)
And Legolas it is! He is very attached to my son so Mr T picked the name :)
Legolas is from a rescue of course, as is Piper. The two of them get along fabulously. He is an extremely easy and fun puppy and we couldn't be happier :)

And if I thought I was bored, that's definitly out now.

Vacation is Very Tiring

Last Day of School:
Laurienna is bragging to everybody that this is awesome, tomorrow she can sleep in. Right.

First Day of Vacation:
Miss A. enters the last remnant of personal parental space still available (my pillow) at 7:09am (9 mns later than the usual "everybody on deck" morning mayhem) and asks if she can watch tv. Of course I don't go back to sleep.

Second Day of Vacation:
Miss A. is up at 7:30am and so everybody else is too because there is no choice in the matter really. At 9:30am she announces that she is bored. This is going to be a loooooong summer.

Third Day of Vacation:
Miss A. loses a tooth. So, of course, the tooth faerie came at night. So, of course, miss A. wakes up at 6:30am with squeals of delight over her present. And just to make sure that we all got that she is happy she comes and jumps up and down on everybody's bed. Including the dog's.

There is no hope in my life.

It's the Final Countdown!!

The 2 gremlins will be let loose from school tomorrow at 1200 hours. Run! Run for your lives!!



Speaking of Europe (the group I mean!), I got to go to one of their concerts in Ireland a long long too long time ago. I must have been around 14 and it was a tiny room. Boy my friends and I made so much NOISE, we got to go up on stage and shake hands with them at the end. They were very nice, very sweaty and I did wonder how they would manage to peel off their oh so tight leather pants ;). I remember that the singer and I compared notes on hair: he was the only guy I've met who had as much hair as I do :):)

Another Little Game

This one is from the excellent Candy Froggie....have you checked her gallery recently?


a writer: Robin McKinley
a painter/artist: Van Gogh
an actress: Kate Winslet
an actor: Johnny Depp
a director: Peter Jackson
a musician: Stephan Eicher
a singer (female): Alanis Morissette
a singer (male): George Michael, hehe
a band: Scorpion
an adventurer: Indiana Jones
a king/queen: Louis XVI
an inventor: the one who invented hammocks
a tv character: Veronica Mars
a movie hero: Zorro
a movie heroine: Hermione
a cartoon character: Road Runner
a tale hero: The Ogre
a tale baddie: Mr Mac Gregor (Peter Rabbit)
a mythologie character: a mermaid

I Have Been Tagged!

All right so my good friend Heike tagged me...thank you my friend for passing along your punishment...have you heard of Karma? Hehe...So, I have to tell 8 things about myself that presumably people don't know and would like to know...dear god.
All right, here we go:

1. I make my own bread and yogurts. No, this is not a remake of the Little House in the Prairie. I just don't like what I find at the store :)

2. I blow dandelions seeds so that they go on my neighbors lawn on purpose. ( American people have a hatred for dandelions and I have declared myself their savior. Yes, I do realize that this is very immature but they bug me with their chemicals that they spray everywhere, it goes in my water and my air too ).

3. I'm very short tempered but I'm getting better. Kind of says Mark. Nobody asked you darling ;)

4. I want to move every 2 years.

5. I'd love to have a farm or a B&B by the sea.

6. My son and I have been "extended the privilege of the floor of the Assembly" at the Nevada State Legislature. Which means that we got to seat amongst the assembly women and men and watch them vote and talk (they pass secret messages to each other by the way. They also have secret meetings hehe!). We were also formally introduced to everybody and got a greeting from all of them. Then we went to dinner and they were quite funny :):)

7. I have been in ghost towns, real saloons in the middle of dusty nowhere, my car broke down in the middle of Death Valley and I slept in a room that was so slanted we kept having to scoot back up the bed all night long.

8. When nobody is at home I make myself a big bowl of ice cream with a giant scoop of whipped cream smothered in chocolate sauce and sprinkles. And when the others come back and that nothing of the good stuff is left I pretend I don't know what happened ;)

And now I have to pass it along to 8 people. Mmmm, don't know that many who have a blog so obviously it'll have to be Candy Froggie, Miss Penny, Helene and Hiro if she passes by? No, no, don't thank me :)

At World's End

It was great! The special effects were incredible really. All my favorite characters were there: Captain Jack Sparrow of course but also Captain Barbossa and the excellent Tia Dalma the gypsy queen. Miss Swann manages to not be so annoying and, total miracle, Orlando Bloom manages to look like a pirate at the very end.
Critics here have complained that there is too many plot lines, that it is confusing and that the movie is too long. Well, actually, it seemed pretty straightforward to me: betrayal left and right :). Seriously, even my 11 year old had no problem whatsoever to follow the story sooooo, I don't know, brain change maybe? Reboot? As for the length, time flew by :). I loved the fact that the movie was about the last stand of the only truly free men and women of their era. And that "good business" represented by Lord Beckett gets blown up is very fitting.
Just go and enjoy yourself... I heard that Johnny Depp loves being Captain Jack so much he'd be happy to do another one. The final scene certainly leaves room for another story so let's cross our fingers and toes ;)