Dragonfly wednesday

Have you ever gotten up close and personal with a dragonfly? This one came to rest on one of our bushes the other day and stayed there quietly while we managed to take a picture. Fascinating huh! Fortunately Herbie didn't see it. He would have eaten it. Yuck!


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Post to Ponder Random Fun Meme - Yes or No

Post to Ponder while I'm off writing.

I have Shanra to blame, err thank for this and I couldn't help but play.

The Rules:

1. You can ONLY answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments you and asks—and, believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming. Nothing is exactly as it seems.

The questions:


Kissed any one of your LiveJournal friends? Yes

Been arrested? No

Kissed someone you didn’t like? Yes

Slept in until 5 PM? Yes

Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes

Held a snake? Yes

Ran a red light? Yes

Been suspended from school? No

Experienced love at first sight? Yes

Totaled your car in an accident? Yes

Been fired from a job? Yes

Fired somebody? Yes

Sung karaoke? Yes

Pointed a gun at someone? No

Did something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes

Kissed in the rain? Yes

Had a close brush with death (your own)? Yes

Saw someone die? Yes

Played Spin-the-Bottle? Yes

Smoked a cigar? Yes

Sat on a rooftop? Yes

Smuggled something into another country? No

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? Yes

Broken a bone? Yes

Skipped school? Yes

Eaten a bug? Yes

Sleepwalked? No

Walked on a moonlit beach? Yes

Ridden a motorcycle? No

Dumped someone? Yes

Forgotten your anniversary? No

Lied to avoid a ticket? No

Ridden in a helicopter? No

Shaved your head? No

Blacked out from drinking? No

Played a prank on someone? Yes

Hit a home run? Yes

Felt like killing someone? No

Cross-dressed? No

Been falling-down drunk? Yes

Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? Yes

Eaten snake? No

Marched/Protested? No

Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? Yes

Puked on an amusement ride? No

Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? Yes

Knitted? Yes

Been on TV? Yes

Shot a gun? Yes

Skinny-dipped? Yes

Given someone stitches? No

Eaten a whole habenero pepper? No

Ridden a surfboard? Yes

Drunk straight from a liquor bottle? No

Had surgery? Yes

Streaked? No

Been taken by ambulance to a hospital? No

Passed out when NOT drinking? Yes

Peed on a bush? Yes

Donated Blood? No

Grabbed electric fence? No

Eaten alligator meat? No

Eaten cheesecake? Yes

Killed an animal when not hunting? No

Peed your pants in public? Yes

Snuck into a movie without paying? No

Written graffiti? No

Still love someone you shouldn’t? No

Think about the future? Yes

Been in handcuffs? Yes

Believe in love? Yes

Sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes


Shanra's right. Some of those questions do beg explanation, but have to follow the rules.

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Posts to Ponder

Posts to Ponder while I'm offline today

Collective Inkwell's serial fiction story "Serial and Milk" - new chapter posted every friday


Alexandra Sokoloff's "Ten things I know about editing."


Camy Tang's "Tips for how to present Backstory"


New blog discovery - A Dad First.The post that initially caught my eye: In response to the case against homeschooling. I like this guy. :)

And last but not least.

From one of my favorite people who we adopted into our family way back when (before she was famous) - Make the Mind Body Connection by Dr. Pam Peeke.

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The Sunday Salon - Take a Break and Unplug

Good Afternoon and welcome to my Sunday Salon. It's a beautiful day and I'm off to sit outside and write a paper about Virginia Woolf and how time is handled in "To the Lighthouse." Once I'm done, then will continue to read "The Angel's Game" by Carlos Luis Rafon. Interesting so far.

B.J. Anderson came up with a wonderful idea to unplug every 3rd week of the month in order to concentrate on her writing without the distraction of the internet.

If you get tired of networking and need a break, join me for Unplug Week. It starts the third Monday of each month and it's a chance to just write. Go ahead and check your emails once or twice a day or anything else that will stack up while you're gone, but after that, turn off your computer and go write. Unplugging means no blogging, facebooking, myspacing, twittering, or anything else that keeps you from writing. Good luck and happy writing!

Stress, stress, stress. Do you sometimes create your own stress. Giving more importance to some things and less to others. Well, it's time to restore some balance once again.

Several bloggers have decided to join in, whether it is for the whole week or just a couple days. I decided to join in and unplug for the week in order to detox and concentrate on my writing. I remember last year when our dsl went down for a whole week because the fool next door cut into our lines by accident during some construction work. I actually got quite a bit done, even though I was having withdrawal symptoms big time for a day or so. Then it turned into a nice break.

and no, I won't be trying to catch up at the end of the week and read all the posts I missed. I will be reseting the reader for a fresh start and I'm sure you all will let me know if I missed anything important.

See you on the other side. :)

Weekly Report # 31 June 8 - June 12

The guys had a great time last weekend on their first camp out and today James received his outdoorsman achievement pin, plus the biggie, his Bear Badge. Today was the monthly pack meeting and after handing out achievements, they had water fights.

As James said every time he got hit with a water ball, "I've been wounded." He's so dramatic.

We completed week 31 of lessons and we all are more than ready for the summer break. 5 more weeks to go, then looking forward to a much deserved break.

What we accomplished this week:

Explorer Bible Study: Lesson 14 - Genesis 18 Destruction of Sodom. All about God deciding to destroy Sodom and Abraham asking him what about if there are 50, then 40, then 20, then 10 good people, would he not destroy it for the sake of 10.

Voyages in English: We finished section 8 about diagramming (kind of glossed over that section) so we are done with the grammar section. I'm going to pick out a few chapters in the written and oral communication section such as Personal Narratives, Descriptions and Book Reports to do for the remainder of the 5 weeks.

Spelling Workout C: Lesson 29 consonant clusters - scored 20 out of 20 on the spelling test.

Writing with Ease: Week 14 and the excerpt was from "The Mouse and The Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary. Worked on narration, copywork and dictation

Cursive: Mixing grammar with writing. All about Adjectives - regular, comparative (er) and superlative (est), plus present tense adverbs and makes verbs agree.

Math: He is getting faster with the double digits both addition and subtraction

Chemistry: Read all about the story of chemical Analysis.

Read lots of books, James drew quite a few pictures of Godzilla and he wrote another short short story for his Godzilla blog and I don't know what happened to the rest of the week. It's a blur. That happens sometimes.

TTFN

More Mini Reviews # 72 - 77

Time again for more mini reviews

#72

"Virgin River" By Robyn Carr. New author read and loved, loved, loved it. It's one of those books that leaves you with a warm cozy feeling at the end and you don't want it to end. Book 1 in the Virgin River romantic suspense series. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.





# 73


"Homicide in Hardcover" by Kate Carlisle. A bibliophile mystery, excellent story and first time author read. Rare book restorer Brooklyn is accused of murdering her mentor and the hunt is on to find the real killer, following the clues her mentor left behind. Highly Recommended.




#74

"Full Moon Rising" by Keri Arthur. Book 1 in series about guardian Riley Jensen, half werewolf, half vampire. If you enjoy books about werewolfs, vampires and lots of sex amidst trying to solve a mystery, then you'll enjoy this one. I probably won't be reading the rest of the series, because it is just more of the same. Well written and in first person point of view. Not my cup of tea.



#75

"Safe Haven" by Hannah Alexander. Book 2 in christian suspense series - Hideway. Very interesting story following three characters: a teenage fugitive, new female doctor in town and the town ranger. In the midst of trying to solve the mystery of who killed the teen's sugar daddy (she is suspected), they all are struggling with the issue of trusting themselves, those around them, but God as well. Not preachy and very good story.



#76

"Cry Wolf" by Patricia Briggs, Book 1 of the Alpha and Omega series and by the author of the Mercy Thompson Series. Paranormal romance about Anna who is a relatively new wolf and an Omega. The story includes Bran and his two sons Samuel and Charles from the Mercy Thompson series, before Samuel went to live with Mercy. They must battle a witch and a rogue wolf in the midst of Anna learning to trust her new mate, Charles. Very well written with a couple tasteful love scenes that leaves more to your imagination, rather than being overly graphic. Briggs is one of my new favorite authors.

#77


"Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart. I just couldn't get into this one and quit part way through.

Book Review # 71 - French Bred

French Bred
(E book)



By


Frederic Guarino

Book Description: "Frédéric was a perfectly normal French boy. He lived on the outskirts of Paris, in a countryside setting, and his life seemed destined to be a quiet, predictable ride if you were willing to ignore a reasonably dysfunctional family, dangerous and colorful friends, a gorgeous English teacher, a near-paralytic attitude toward women on a romantic level, no self-confidence to speak of, and a habit of letting himself be dragged into twisted situations. Through the French school system, family vacations, beauty school, military service, complicated border crossings, wedding plans, and a ludicrously long trail of failed attempts at relationship, he remained barely sane enough to forge his own opinions on what, how, and why the French do the things they do. In this series of essays, he reaffirms or decries stereotypes, presents the pros and cons of the French lifestyle, but also shows that not all French men are smooth, sophisticated, or have all the answers about the female gender. However, if you’d rather read about car sickness, moped accidents, German flatulence, foul-mouthed grannies, beach side mishaps, tanks, or the wrong way to marry the right girl, you’re in luck! This book does that too."

"French Bred" by Frederic Guarino is a humorous, irreverent look into his life from boyhood through the beginnings of finding himself married to an absolutely normal woman and thinking himself the luckiest man in life. You'll laugh, cry, and cringe while reading all about his exploits. But you'll appreciate your normal family even more after reading about his dysfunctional, but loving family. I normally don't read e-books, but when Mr. Guarino asked if I would be interested in reviewing his book, I jumped at the opportunity to learn about the french from a Frenchman's point of view. It was interesting to say the least. However, since I didn't have the desire to read a 400 page book on the computer, ended up printing it off to read at my leisure. It was worth the extra effort. Thank you Mr. Guarino for giving me the opportunity to read your book.