One
I highly recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to anyone looking for a good book to read.
The waiting list at my library for this book is FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS LONG, so my dear bloggy friend Nicole sent me her copy when she was finished. She called it "the perfect blend of funny and sweet and serious," and she was right on the money.
The book, set just after the Nazi occupation of the British island of Guernsey during World War II, is about the triumph of love and the milk of human kindness in the face of great barbarism and tragedy.
Do yourself a favor and read it in these waning days of summer.
Two
If you are an office supply addict like me, then you know that this time of year is like a relapse waiting to happen. It's hard to be strong when there are so many great deals on office supplies to be had.
Nicole told me that I would not regret investing in a Sharpie pen, and then Barb alerted me to some great new colors, including my favorite, purple.
I found a blue Sharpie pen, and while I am still on the hunt for purple, I have to say that I am highly enjoying the one I have. It is the perfect list-making/calendar-marking pen.
Who says the internet never directed me pathways of goodness?
Three
I am supposed to be cleaning my bathrooms right now, but they are so messy that I cannot even face them.
I feel that if I have to look at the crusty blue toothpaste in the kids' sink, then I will lose my mind.
What I SHOULD do is pray a Hail Mary while wiping out the sink.
What I AM doing is blogging.
What was that about the internet directing me in pathways of goodness? Crud.
Four
I am getting mighty sick of media pundits characterizing citizens protesting health care reform as wacky nut jobs who hate America. Or even better: wacky nut jobs who hate America and who are shills for the deep-pocketed insurance lobbyists.
Are there wacky nut jobs out there? Heck yeah.
Are insurance lobbyists working overtime? I'm sure they are.
Do I think that most of the people who are upset about health care reform as it stands are in either of the aforementioned camps? No way.
I really do feel a longer post about health care coming on. Heaven help us.
Five
I am getting tired just thinking about having to pack school lunches again.
My kids are lunchtime grazers, and they are great leftover-eaters, but for some reason they don't seem to eat all of their lunches at school. Especially Francie.
I have a sneaking suspicion that it has much to do with all TALKIE, no EAT-IE.
I have no idea from whence that trait appeared.
Six
I call this picture "Hot Cross Bun." I slay me.
Seven
I was totally bummed to read about a study in which researchers discovered that calorie slashing is MUCH MORE effective than exercising when it comes to weight loss.
Exercise has many benefits for overall health and strength, and of course we should move our bodies daily, but for weight loss, LESS IS MORE.
Apparently, a vigorous hour on the treadmill can be completely negated by a child-sized serving of french fries.
And here I was thinking that I could go ahead and have my ice cream and eat it too -- as long as I paid the sweat equity later on.
Way to suck the joy out of a trip to Dairy Queen, researchers!
Have a great weekend, my friends, and be sure to visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.
Two mentions in one post! I feel famous. Alas, the Sharpie pen is not currently available in purple. Believe me, I looked at the website. Just boring blue, black, red, and green (not as boring, but not purple).
ReplyDeleteMy girls are good lunch eaters at school, but I have a feeling Buddy will find time running short to actually eat. He is my busiest kid at the table at home, and we are boring people he has known our whole life! Imagine him with new friends!
The Sharpie pen IS available in purple! I saw them at Staples--it was a 6-pack with black, blue, green, red, orange, purple. It's not on the Staples website but they were in the store, in the back to school section where they have those large cardboard bins of just about everything.
ReplyDeleteLOVED the Guernsey book. It was one of the best I read all summer.
We have the same problem with school lunches.
#4: Yeah.
And I didn't want to hear about that whole exercise/food thing. Drat.
I tell you, either Bun and Bubba would get along famously and possibly take over the world, or else they wouldn't be able to tolerate each other because they're so alike. I love that picture. I own many similar pictures of Bubba.
ReplyDeleteBella is also not a good lunch eater, because she talks too much. When they had silent lunch days last year (which they seemed to have often) I got a note home almost every time. I'm having her make her own lunches this year, which will do two things: 1.) free me from having to make them, and 2.) hopefully increase her chances of eating it. We shall see.
Would love to read the book, however now that school has started back, it will be approximately nine months before I get the opportunity to once again read for pleasure, maybe by that time, I can get it at my library!
ReplyDeleteDon't EVEN get me started on health care!
Love the Sharpie! So fun and useful for so many things!
Love the picture of Bun...especially the curls. We really need to get these boys together, cause that looks JUST LIKE an expression I frequently see on Tigercub--he has hit the terrible twos a little too early for my liking!
Have a great week!
LOVE Hot Cross Bun. You slay me too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion of the Hail Mary while cleaning the blue tooth paste. It's so much better than what I usually utter. The good Lord and Father David will thank you for that.
Don't get me started on health care. I need to utter Hail Mary's for that one too. The media is no longer the media. They forgot they are only supposed to report the who, what, where, when and why of the story.
Enjoy your Sharpie and your babies before school starts. I'm not ready for school. Not.At.All. I need a whole other summer break.
Oh and the Sharpie is available in a rainbow of colors. I've seen it!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefind.com/office/browse-12-color-set-sharpie
There's a purple in there (I saw these at K-Mart but couldn't bring myself to spend almost $9.00 on markers. But I really want to ...)
I LOVE that Hot Cross Bun picture.
ReplyDelete(You should hear my brother, who is a lobbyist for the American Dental Association, go off about socialized medicine. He even gave one of the doctors taking care of my mother a few weeks ago an earful about it.)
Ooooh, I hate Number 7!!!
ReplyDeleteI only exercise so I can eat what I want, no wonder I'm not a skinny minny.
Must go to Staples soon. I had no idea it was available in purple. My life just got a little brighter. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd so bummed about the exercise/food thing. Guess I really will have to get serious about what I eat if I want to drop these last 5-7 pounds. We shall see. I'm pretty happy where I am too.