Penny Longstockings

Shout out to the SIL who just started her own blog, Orange and other bright colors! I hope she has as much fun with it as all my blog pals do.

Book Club and Charity

If you read my previous post What Would YOU Do? then you know that I had book club at my house last night. I was sort of dreading it, because I felt so bad about the book selection. And of course, I was afraid no one would want to show up. I knew I could count on two people, An Ordinary Mom and the Relief Society president, but I didn't know if anyone else would come.

It turns out that we have a lot of really nice people who are very charitable at heart. They felt bad for the position I was in and were totally non-judgemental (of me -- not the book). I was so gratefull to the 12 women who came to my home for the non-book book club. We had a really nice time talking about books we could highly recommend and just about anything else you could think of. It turned out to be a really nice evening.

My thanks go out to everyone for being understanding.

Things That Need Sugar

Let's just say that anything normally made out of egg whites and sugar, should be left at that. The DH, as many of you know, does not eat sugar. When he saw sugar-free Peeps at the drug store last night, he had to try them. He ate one bite and was done. He suggested I try one. The same. One bite and I was done. It's sweet and I couldn't eat another bite. Seriously, what do you think a sugar-free Peep could possibly be coated with? I don't think I even want to know.

5:07 p.m. It's Spring!

It's officially Spring! It's raining right now, but we've had some lovely days leading up to it. I've been enjoying the bulbs and buds associated with the entry of Spring and had to take a photo of the tree in the front yard. Isn't it lovely?

What Would YOU Do?

I made a big mistake. I’m participating in the book club at church, and this month I’m hosting. That means I picked the book and the meeting will be at my house. I thought a lot about the book and decided to go with one that I’d read a year and a half or two years ago and really liked when I read it. It’s Empire Falls and it is a really powerful story. I remembered that there might be some questionable content for a church audience, but I really thought it wasn't too bad. (Does it mean that I'm getting old that I've forgotten what was in there?) I asked around about what people thought and got reassuring answers that it should be fine.

Last week, I started re-reading the book. It’s bad. The language is foul and there are sexual innuendos that are really off-color. It’s not OK for church book club. On Saturday, the Relief Society president told me that she hadn’t read the book, but that a few women had called her and asked her if she knew what was in it and they really thought it was inappropriate. My first instinct was to say that everyone has agency and they can just put the book down. My second instinct is to be horrified that I recommended the book. It doesn't help that I was unable to attend church today because I had to be at a Ward Conference in another ward.

The meeting is on Tuesday of this week and it’s too late to choose another book. What would you do in this situation?

Baby's Got a New Pair of Shoes...

Or, maybe she's got a brand new car!

I made the decision that I needed to make my commute better by getting a better commuting car, so I decided to get a hybrid. On Saturday, the DH and I went over to Toyota of Lake City and test drove the hybrid Camry and Prius. The Camry was posh and absolutely wonderful, but the MPG on the sticker was only 30 compared to the Prius' 60. I just had to go with the Prius.

It's a very wierd experience driving this car. First of all, you don't use the key at all. You get close to the car with the "key" and it unlocks. When you get in the car, you press a power button to turn it on. It turns on the electric engine, which is silent, so the only way you can tell is that the dash lights up.

To turn it off, you press the power button again. On Sunday, I couldn't lock the doors and realized it was because I hadn't turned the car off. I didn't hear anything and forgot to hit the power button. It will definitely take some getting used to.

I'm happy to say that the guage told me I got 41.5 MPG on my commute home from work yesterday. That felt good. Now I have to figure out how to hook up my iPod and bluetooth wireless for my cell phone and I'll be good to go.

Live and in Concert

The DH and I have been enjoying some great live music this weekend. Friday night, we went to the Tractor Tavern and took in three acts. The first was Jim Brunberg and he was a solo act playing guitar and singing his stories. He reminded me of a cross between John Denver and James Taylor. I could take it or leave it. The next was a group called Ragazza. I liked the sound. It was a woman singing, a guy on midi and guitar, and a third guy playing drums. It had a cool 80’s retro sound, but it was still totally today. The singer reminded me of Dido, but not many people have heard of her, so that won’t be a great point of reference. The final act was Carrie Akre. Patrick and I saw her on our third date, so we quite partial to her. She’s working on a new album, so we heard a bunch of her new stuff. It was really good. She has a great husky, throaty voice. Good times.

Saturday night, we went to see the Texas Songwriter’s at the Paramount. They include Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, and John Hiatt. It was just four guys with guitars on stage sharing their music. They were fabulous. I can’t recommend that one highly enough. We had a great and managed to go out to some great dinners on our way to those concerts.

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Shout Out to Jami!

Shout out to Jami today as it's her birthday! I hope it's fabulous and that she's enjoying it with her family -- inlcuding the new baby Katrina. I've had a cold and cough, so haven't seen the new baby yet, but her dad gave me permission to come over before the cough is gone, so I'm going to see the baby today. I can't wait!