random swirling thoughts

Lots of random little thoughts swirling around in my head. First the bad news. Creamsickle kicked the bucket yesterday. She lasted more than two months so I think that is respectable as far as the life of a goldfish goes. The sad thing is that “fishy” is one of about seven words in the little guy’s vocabulary. It looks like we might be in the market for a new family pet. One that looks like a creamsickle.

I’ve started up my running habit again. There was a very long hiatus (November-April) but my scare-the-townfolk-pale-legs are pounding the pavement with the kiddo once again. It feels good. And it fits nicely into our routine. My jogging partner is a lot heavier than he was last October, but he is also a lot more fun now, pointing out the trees and cars and houses and fellow joggers/bikers/walkers as we go. Last fall, he was guaranteed to snooze.

I have several little projects in the works and a plan to try something new. Felting. Motivation comes from here. My plan is to “up-cycle” a bunch of old wool sweaters by felting them and creating something useful. As far as I can tell so far, felting is accomplished by washing and drying wool in high heat. If local folks have any 100% wool sweaters they are looking to get rid of, the donation bin is open.

I missed the opportunity to say goodbye to a work friend who moved recently. And I don’t have her new digits. You know who you are, so if you are reading, could you shoot me a quick email so that I can be in touch? Oh, and I know that other friends of yours are scouring the internet looking for you too because some of them end up at this blog. Poor people do a search of your name but all they find here is a bunch of hokey crafts and photos of cute kids!

I just heard some big news today that my idea of utopia may be coming a little bit closer to reality by the fall. (A VERY BIG YAY!) More on that great news later.

a good read

A friend at work recommended this excellent children’s book. It is billed as “a book of manners for all occasions.” I love the sense of humor it conveys, so I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite pages. If you can’t read the text in the photos (assuming, of course, that you are actually INTERESTED in reading the text), just click on them.

There is another page that reads: “You go to London to see the Queen. She says, ‘Oh, you must stay for dinner. We are having spaghetti.’ So you do, and there is spaghetti for the main dish, and a spaghetti salad. By the time the Queen’s guard brings spaghetti for dessert, you cannot fit into your chair anymore and you want to leave the table.”

“What do you say dear?” (Flip to next page.)

“May I please be excused?”

OK. Well, trust me. It’s a very clever book. I am realizing that my description isn’t so great. So folks, I think this post marks the beginning and the end of my illustrious career as a book reviewer. I am going to stick to show-and-tell of the handmade variety from here on out. Speaking of, did you catch that prize in progress strategically placed beneath the book? If you do want to hear more about children’s books and the many adventures of a gorgeous two-year old boy nicknamed Goose, then let me point you in the direction of my good friend Mommy Goose. She is a proper librarian, after all, and a darn good writer to boot.