Just finished reading Sharon Creech’s “Love That Dog” aloud to the kids. Wacky Girl had to take over when I started crying.

Have added “Love That Dog” to list of books (“Charlotte’s Web,” “The Yearling,” uh, “Bambi”) that I will not be reading aloud to my students.

Also I think I will skip “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Then Again Maybe I Won’t.” My sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Bell, bravely read both to us. I am not the man he was. Also, no “Wifey.” You’ve got to have some boundaries when reading aloud to students. “The English Patient”? Nope. Anything by Anais Nin? Nopey-nope.

No to “A Day No Pigs Would Die.” Ditto, “The Pigman.” Basically, no pigs. Nothing with “pig” in the title, nothing with a pig theme. Because even though Wilbur lives in “Charlotte’s Web,” it is not exactly a happy ending now, is it? Contrary to what my daughter would tell you.

Today’s books:

And:

And even more…:

so much depends
upon

— “The Red Wheelbarrow,” 1923, William Carlos Williams

Am smart and talented. Just figured out how to 1) register as a post-bac (undergrad) student in the hopes of 2) finishing my pre-requisites and 3) registering for grad school. (To obtain teaching license and Media Specialist degree.)

(Will assume no GREs are required, but some other, simpler test instead. Maybe involving writing a blog post and posting it. With a Twitter sample on the side. Maybe 3 or 4 recipes, added on to packet. Sure.)

(Yes, it is nice up there in my brain, with the fairies, cupcakes and sparkles.)

Also figured out how to 4) register for an online course (four credits, one of the pre-reqs) and 5) order the books I need for it, too. All online! Why would you ever want to leave the house? It only took six people holding my hand (over e-mail and phone) and answering my questions to complete all this. Dear God, what am I thinking?

love,

wm

No time to review — reading.

(Almost everything I’m reading the next few weeks came from the School Corps trainings I went to recently. School Corps is part of the Multnomah County Library system and you will find some of their incredible book lists right here.)

Bon appetit!

wm

Today’s books:

And:

And even more…:

“Hold me and hold me and hold me…”
our daughter, at age 2

“I just made Love Potion #9. It’s pink.”
our son, at age 6

“For truly it is to be noted, that children’s plays are not sports, and should be deemed as their most serious actions.” — Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

You know my blog? This one? What the heck kind of blog is this, anyway? (more…)

“Outside of a dog, a good book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
— Groucho Marx

Here’s a good site, if you haven’t already seen this one.

How about this, for instance? Now, that’s a look.

Or this?

Eh. I do need a makeover.

Heh heh. It’s too hot to sleep, yeesh.

I just logged back on to look something up on the Internet, something important, something that’s been bugging me All. Day. Long!!! and now I cannot remember what the heck it was. Instead I’m thinking, oooh, sparkly! Shiny! And my husband, looking over my shoulder, calls out, “You need a new look.” (For the blog, I think he means, not a “girly makeover” or some crap.)

Still. Can’t. Remember what the HECK I needed to find out???

You call that “webnesia.”

Internets, does it bother you that I don’t run photos here? I am not a photographer, I just write. And we don’t run pix of the kids, anyway, when we do run pix. I’ve been so busy with the new job, and the kids’ summer schedule, that I haven’t had a lot of time to write. I miss it. I’ll try to be more chop-chop about it.

As for pictures… I always love the foodie pix Lelo runs. I go back to her site over and over, even when I’ve already read the entry (she’s a great cook, writer and photographer and designer. That girl!), cuz the photos are so yummy. Sometimes I like looking at a lot of photos when I’m cruising the blogs; other times they take too long to load and I get impatient. You?

xxox

wm

Bullets? You like bullets? Me, too! What a quincidence.

* It was one hundred and something degrees here today.

* All of you who say “Portland never gets hot! It’s only hot here, like, two days out of the year!” can kiss my foot.

* Sal’s, our favorite Italian restaurant in town, closed. No notice, no nothing. Mio Sushi and Pause, here I come.

* And McMenamin’s Kennedy School.

* But not Chapel Pub, because my kids think the food there is made from dead people.

* I’m pretty sure it’s not.

* They also think the hush puppies at Roux are made of real puppies, so we can’t eat there, either. As if we could afford it. Ha! We’ve been there twice I think. Once was for dessert.

* I love being back to work. Love, love, love, love, love my work. Love. Nothing but love.

* I can’t remember the last time I worked out. You?

* Turns out if you eat smaller portions of food, and limit yourself to one drink, you lose weight. Who knew?

* But the work-outs are key, for me anyway.

* Our snails are procreating. By themselves. They do this well, apparently. Ensures the survival of the species.

* “We see snails as being a nuisance pest in the aquariums.” — fish guy at the fish store.

* “So why do you sell them?” — me, to fish guy (Isn’t “nuisance pest” redundant? When I ask him what I should do with the extra snails, ie, can I donate them to the fish store? Or something? Craigslist? Foster homes for wayward snails? He suggests I put them in the garden. Snail killer!)

* Hmm. The frog is not a nuisance, he is adorable.

* Our garden is coming along great — corn, zucchini, cukes and more cukes, tomatoes coming on strong, herbs… it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Later, gator.

wm