We decided to grow grass in our yard a little at a time...one season at a time. This square is "Phase 1". So far, so good. Steve fenced it off in hopes of keeping smelly dogs out, but that didn't deter one stupid mutt who went in and dug up our little tree. Poor tree. But luckily, it lived.
We only use the best lawn equipment. No expense spared. No one can ever say we didn't do our part to end "global warming."
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Bonnie, came over last week for a visit and I cut her hair. She looks fabulous! And it only took 2 1/2 hours. (OCDers should not go into the hair-cutting profession.) We watched all of She's The Man and a little of something else during that time.
(Sorry, Bon...this is the only recent
"BEFORE" picture I took of you.)
AFTER
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These are my FAVOR-freakin'-ITE chocolate chip pancakes. I love them. I have a DEEP, undying love for these. They will change your life forever. If I were on death-row, I would be eatin' these down that green mile. If you had nothing to live for...they would give you a reason...
1 cup flour
1 T. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 T. oil
Bag of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
-Combine dry, set aside.
-Combine wet, add to dry.
-Stir just until moistened...don't overmix. (I have no idea why it's bad, but it is.)
-Pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and add chocolate chips.
-Flip when ready
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It won't be long now before Lily surpasses me academically. She soaks up knowledge really fast. By the time she's in kindergarten, they (who ever "they" are) will have come up with some new, pointless math and I'll never be able to help her with her homework.
She's learned to write her name...she even draws it in the air. Very cute, especially when she dots the "i".
And this is "Mommy." Ain't I a beaut.
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Here are a few pictures from when we went camping a few weeks ago.
We were the only other campers in this whole site...which was surprising, cuz it was the opening of one of the hunts. It was nice. Although, no one would have known if had gotten eaten by bears...or havelinas.
Our mansion in the woods.
I just really think she's cute.
If you've never had a "Hobo Dinner"...you should build a fire in your backyard and try one. So good. If I was a hobo and I ate this all the time, I'd be okay with the whole no-home thing.
I know, you've seen one lake, you've seen them all. I still think it was really purty.
If only she could stay this helpful...
Thus concludes the camping trip.
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Finally, someone to love...or at least not detest.
...Is that not the cutest thing ever?
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So, I finished Breaking Dawn. (Mega spoiler ahead.)
What to say.
How do I feel about it?
Hard to say.
Up until Alice left, I was fine...I mean, well, maybe not entirely. Bella getting pregnant and having a 3 week old spawn burst forth is where the story took a weird un-Twilightlike turn for me. I wasn't lovin' it. I didn't feel compelled to read till all hours. (That was also because this is the last one and I didn't want to get it over with too fast.)
Honestly, I'm a little underwhelmed. I mean. This was the LAST book of the series. I was fully expecting and wanting an all out brawl with the Volturies! What disappointment and shock I experienced when the end was coming and...NOTHING happened. Holy cow. It was supposed to end with the Cullins and friends kicking Aro's, Caius', and Marcus' butts and taking over the vamp world. Or the Volturi completely wiping out all good vampires. I wanted body parts all over the place and revenge seeping through every pore of every creature. But to have nothing happen and the book end on a kiss and a hug...it is, as Dara said, insulting.
When I got to about page 700, I knew nothing terribly exciting was going to happen. There was too much left to have happen and only about 70 or so pages left to go. I would have much rather had this be a 1,000 page book and Meyer end it right...or at least acceptable. I wanted to know more about what happens. I don't just want the future implied! "Oh, ha ha...the Volturi will come back later and pick us off one by one, but no biggy. Cheers! Tickle, tickle! Let's have a ho-down!"
I mean, couldn't we just lock Stephenie Meyer up in a well-lit room with a fridge and make her only write books about the Twilight gang until she dies? Is that not her purpose in life?
Don't get me started on the name "Renesmee." Bl'eck. It won't be long now before we have a whole slew of babies named that...and I will be right there, to call the stupid.
I think the thing I liked the least about it all...Edward was not the Edward I knew and loved. He was just a background character for Bella and Jacob to play off of. Oh, how I miss absolutely, wonderful illusion of him.
And surprisingly, Bella wasn't annoying to me in this one. Definitely like her better immortal.
(Dara, what did you mean they became caricatures of themselves?)
Nevertheless, I did like it because I am bound to. And I will probably read it again someday. And I am still going to be there front (well, middlish) and center in the theater with popcorn and Red Vines in hand on opening day...or maybe the day after the opening day.
I also heard a couple of the cast will be doing something in the VMA Awards on Sunday, so, pathetically...I will be watching.
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And so it is...Summer is leaving for the year and I couldn't be happier. I
have NO doubt that come February, I'll be hating Winter. But that's too far off to care about. I curse the heat and the sunshine. 
I'm highly anticipating the dreary cold and skies of gray.Here's a fun summer weather fact--cuz I like to rub things in for those in AZ...there were only 5 days above 100 degrees in Salt Lake this summer. In Phoenix, over 110 days! In-flippin'-sane.
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(Ahhh, I feel good...Lily just said, "Mommy, you're too big for your bum to sit on." Diet time, maybe? You know it's time to cut some calories when you're even too big for your bum to sit on.)
THE END
After reading your thoughts on breaking dawn, I forgot what the rest of your post was about lol! I do agree with you... to a point. In my opinion, this series or saga or whatever you want to call it, was meant for young adults... meaning, to me, that a whole lot of effort didn't have to go into it. Does that make sense? I enjoyed it for what it was. Could it have been better? Most definitely. I read it twice, it was better the 2nd time, but it was no twilight!! I will forever be in love with that Edward :)
ReplyDeleteAhem...I HATE this book HATE HATE HATE and while I don't be so callus as to hate others who have read it accidentally stumbled into this atrocity, I will give you a stern motherly look for reading it again. What I meant was, was that Bella became UBER annoying, and more and more so, until we were graced with her none-too-soon-death. I kinda wish it had been permanent. Oh well...Edward became this UBER emotional and RETARDED version of himself, and Jacob unaccountably became REALLY STUPID and MEAN. I mean, he was sarcastic in the other books, but he was down right WHITE TRASH complete with wife beater. L O S E R Dr. Cullin became this freaky Frankenstein who wanted to see how everything "worked" and I wanted to SMACK him since he was always such a steady character. Everyone else melted into the background. "Renesme" sounds like some kind of bacterial infection or something akin to Ebola virus, and I don't know what Meyer's was smoking when she came up with that. I C K "Don't come too close, honey, the doc told me I have a really bad case of Renesme, and it's highly contageous. *cough cough*" BUNCH OF CRAAAAP. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I feel insulted all over again. INSULTED!
ReplyDeleteOH and I SOLD ALL MY TWILIGHT BOOKS ON AMAZON I WAS SO ENRAGED AND DISGUSTED! TAKE THAT MEYERS!
ReplyDeleteCome on, Dara...don't hold back! Tell us how you REALLY feel.
ReplyDeleteI see your point. I, however, could not manage to hate it so passionately.
Heather, it's true it's written for teenagers. But here's the prob...Meyer KNEW that a zillion non-teenagers were really into this series. So she should've raised the bar a little higher.
But like I said...I'm sure I'll read it again. There were some parts I actually did like. I, too, enjoyed a good portion of it for what it is.
You gotta split up your big blog posts, Amy. There's too much to comment on. Well, except for the Twilight books. I didn't care for those. Too emo, not enough blood and guts.
ReplyDeleteI envy you the camping trips. They look like fun. I see Steve is still using that monster housing development tent. That thing is muy grande.
I saw that video of Piper Palin at the RNC this morning. She's a cute little turkey.
Oh, and I heart Sarah Palin. I was mighty impressed with her speech last night. She's a fantastic orator. I just finished watching McCain speak a few minutes ago. I'm underwhelmed.
I once vowed that I would never vote for McCain again. He fooled me once, he fooled me twice, he'll not fool me a third time. I just dislike the media whore, and have for years. I have no reason to vote for the Maverick at all. So I won't. I'll vote for Palin, instead. She'd be perfect for the job, and will probably end up with it at some point.
BTW, what kind of lubricant does one put on chocolate chip pancakes? I've never had them, but it seems to me that maple syrup isn't going to work, and will likely be disgusting. Whipped cream might be okay. A home made whipped cream syrup that's left as a sweet cream rather than a fluffy whip would probably be the best.
Yeah I know... I do admit she dropped the ball. I think she may just have too much going on and didn't put enough "love" so to speak in the book. And I agree, a fight would've been awesome and I would have spent, and loved the time it took, to read a couple hundred extra pages for it to have been done right! So I take back what I said :)
ReplyDeleteThe other problem was that Meyers' admitted that the last book wasn't intended for the young crowd, and rightly so! I mean, HELLO too much information! My sister let her 12 year old daughter read it and I was like "HOLY CRAP! TOO YOUNG!" I mean, there was stuff in there that MARRIED people shouldn't read! I felt like I needed to confess dirty thoughts to my ecclesiastical leader. One of my friends told me something that may shed some light on why Stephanie went all crazy with her last book. She and Amazon have a deal, and they have the right to tell her what to put into her books, so for the last book, they knew what their buyers wanted to read, and probably told her to add all that junk. Kinda sad she sold out.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people that have been wanting them to just get it on already. People had to have known it was going to happen in the book, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. It's not like ANY skeazy details were given anyway. Little disappointing. Crass maybe, but what can I say.
ReplyDeleteDan, if you're going to talk about media whores, you must not leave out Barrack. That's ALL he's good for. Pearly whites and a teleprompter...that's why the media loves him. I've seen no substance. A lot of diarrhea of the mouth...and even that doesn't do much for me. I watched him speaking today on a couple different things and he can't even talk without using a typed up speech...he had to look down every other word. What? Memorizing a couple of your own supposed thoughts too difficult?
And let's not get started on the pansy factor. Pansy, pansy, pansy. I hope if I ever run into a "black" guy in a dark alley, it's him. I'm betting the terrorists will be pretty excited if he's elected president.
A philosophy of mine is, if P-Diddy and MTV like him...I'm out. Of course, all Hollywood sees is the chance to vote for a black guy for president...and all this talk of hope and change and blah blah blah. Knowing his past politics...I'm disgusted by him. He creeps me out. Sometimes I miss Hilary. Sometimes.
Oh, and Joe Biden who?
Dan, I was wondering what you thought of Palin. I thought for sure there would be something appalling about her. But, I too, am inlove with her. The more I learn, the more I love. Too bad the old man couldn't kick off sooner rather than later. Palin's the FIRST person this ENTIRE race--including primaries--I've been excited to vote for. I shall be skipping to the polls...rather than dragging myself out of civic duty.
And maple syrup is delightful on the pancakes. But you don't need a lot. The chocolate chips do most of the talking.
I had the pancakes for breakfast today... they are wonderful!!! So yummy!
ReplyDeleteSo Bonnies hair is now brown in the front and blonde in the back?
ReplyDeleteI read the 200+ page draft of Midnight Sun of Stephenie Meyer's site. I must say it is VERY humorus! There is plenty of visuals for me (Such as the afore mentioned head bashing) that had me laughing out loud. Too bad she is not going to finish that version.
ReplyDeleteI'm so bummed she's not going to finish it. I still think she should. Stupid artist.
ReplyDeleteFinally I can post about this!! I have been avoiding this post till I finished the silly book. Its funny that you said you read slow. so did I. Really slow trying to postpone the end.... the day when I would wake up and remember I was at work and not in my imaginary world. :( It's not as interesting in AJ. I still dont know how Renesmee is suppose to be pronounced. and Just called her Nessie in my mind. I did miss edward to. & Loved Bella as a Vamp. I love that she finally had powers really knew who she was then. I missed Alice dearly and knew she would come back to help.. Fight.. hhmmm.. not sure I agree I wanted cullens to kick but, I was worried about the fight.I kept crying waiting for Bella to say.. Run Nessie & jake. it broke my heart. I found muyself holding Riley a little tighter each night.
ReplyDeleteHave you read the 5th book yet on her website? So sad what happened and that we will never have an ending to that. I will start that next week. You can only view it on the computer so no printing, Bummer that will make it harder to read. Hopefully someday she will find her inspiration to continue their journey, and till then I will be reading the whole thing over. I will to be at the movies opening night Nov 21st! A birthday gift to myself. :) Reading these 4 books is honestly more then what I read in my 4 years of high school!
You're funny, Casey. I know what you mean! I don't remember reading this much in school either!
ReplyDeleteYou pronounce it Ruh-nez-mae.
Why am I the only one that wanted war!...the patriot in me seeping out.