My husband found this insect outside our apartment. Neither of us have ever seen something like it before. I tried taking some pictures of it, but none of them did it justice. I got a good picture of its head but then the thorax didn't show up very well. He was approximately two inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Anyone have any ideas of what he could be?
For Reeda it is GOOD luck! She was born on Friday the thirteenth and today (her three month birthday) she rolled over for the first time. I don't know what the average baby does, but it is a full month earlier than when Happy Boy rolled over.
I have been working this afternoon on improving the look of my blog. Most of what I have done has either been with the help of my husband or Moms Who Blog. I probably will continue to make changes off and on for the next few days. Any feedback would be appreciated.
A couple different bloggers raved about the book Fancy Nancy. Even though this is a book for girls (which Happy Boy is definitely not), I thought I would check it out from the library just to see for my own enjoyment how good the book was.
Well, I enjoyed it. Happy Boy enjoyed it even more. After having us read it to him over and over and over he started saying, "Fancy Reeda, fancy Reeda." When my husband said, "No, fancy Happy Boy," he would reply, "No! Fancy Reeda! Fancy Reeda!"
Now when we read "Fancy Dancey" (as he calls it), he makes us read the story as if he were Nancy. "This is Happy Boy's room before he made it fancy. Happy Boy loves being fancy." Fortunately there are no places in the book where Nancy says she likes wearing skirts or dresses. I doubt that making him the main character in a decidedly effeminate book will have lasting effects on him since he is only two, but I feel funny saying that his favorite color is fuchsia and that he likes wearing lacy socks.
I think it is time to return this book before there is any lasting effect on him I get sick and tired of it. But that won't stop me from checking out Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy.
Yet another meme from Flannery.
A Picture of Now, Between Past and Future.
1.a. Describe your outfit.
A light but bright blue shirt and black pants. A pair of Birkenstock's that I got in 1995.
b. What associations does the main color invoke?
None specifically, but it is very cheery.
c. Is there a memory associated with this outfit (or part of it)?
Well, this shirt was the first item of clothing I bought after Happy Boy was born. The first time I wore it was to a Shakespeare play that several of my friends were in. Happy Boy cried so much that I missed the whole first half. :(
2.a. Are you listening to music?
Yes. Cello concertos by Haydn and Boccherini.
b. Was this intentional?
Yes. Before I started writing this I scrolled through our music collection (it’s all on the computer) and thought I would listen to this. Cello music is some of my favorite instrumental music.
c. What does the music make you remember?
Nothing, really. I bought this album a few months ago and have only listened to it a couple times before.
3.a. Describe the objects within arms' reach.
Bach C.D.s, computer program C.D.s, receipts, mail, a memory stick, the card for the place we have to take our car to get fixed, magazines, a basket of stuff to be filed, a binder, a book by Amy Welborn, a pair of expensive shoes which I hope to sell on Ebay, a holy water font, our digital camera, library books and movies, and more STUFF.
b. Choose one object and tell where you acquired it.
My mother bought me the shoes before I got married and I only wore them once because the heels were uncomfortably high. She bought them for me so I could get used to wearing shoes that high for when I wore the same pair only white when I got married. I needed shoes that high so I wouldn’t have to pay to get my dress altered. After wearing the torture devices once I realized that there was no way I could wear them for hours when I got married, so ended up paying for the alteration after all.
c. On the whole, are the objects new (memory blanks) or old (memory filled)?
Most of the stuff is relatively new and doesn’t have any memories for me and a lot of it is paperwork so I wouldn’t keep memories of that anyway.
4.a. What room are you in?
Our dining room which doubles as a computer room.
b. To what extent is it yours?
Well, I live in the apartment, but I don’t own it. I share the room with my family, so I guess the only extent that it is mine is that I don’t have to share it with the general public.
c. What kind of memories will you have in the future of this room?
Hopefully lots of good meals and conversations. We have had a few already, but we have lived here less than a year so I anticipate many more to come.
5. What were you doing before starting this post, and what would you like to do next?
I ran to the grocery store for something that they were out of and so bought lots of other stuff instead. Now I am going to try to put Happy Boy to bed and try tidying up the kitchen.
God was benevolent. The rain we have been having every day for who-knows-how-long only lasted for about thirty minutes yesterday in the early afternoon. By the time our evening festivities began, there was a blue sky and a perfect temperature.
In addition to celebrating the birth of our country, we also celebrated the birthdays of our children's godparents*. My husband made a cake which was oohed and ahed over by our friends. More than one woman said I was lucky to have a husband who enjoys baking cakes**.
It was a very pleasant evening. We left just as they were starting to set of the illegal fireworks. I don't have any problem with the fireworks being illegal (especially since risk of fire is practically nil with all the rain we have been having) but it was considerably past Happy Boy's bedtime and he was showing it.
* Happy Boy's godfather and Reeda's godmother both have their birthday on the fourth. (They are five hours apart, but not related.) I joked with my husband that next time we have a baby we will have to advertise for a Catholic born on Independence Day.
** Not only does he enjoy making cakes, he says his taste better than mine so he only lets me make gingerbread cakes. He doesn't like those so he doesn't care how they taste. : )
I stumbled upon the blog Roman Miscellany and the priest who writes it has a very good post on a young Iraqi priest who was killed last month by insurgents. Here is a beautiful quotation from the priest on the sufferings of Iraqi Catholics:
We empathize with Christ who entered Jerusalem in full knowledge that the consequence of His love for mankind was the cross. Thus while bullets smashed our Church windows, we offered up our sufferance as a sign of love for Christ.
I heard years ago that car accidents are four times more likely to be caused by cell phone being used than by drunk driving*. Sometime later I read that New York State banned driving with regular cell phones. One had to choose between some sort of hands-free option while driving or no phone at all.
Just two days ago I found out that my state has enacted a similar law that goes into effect today. Today. And I found out only 48 hours ago by a fluke visit to a random website. It irritates me that something like this was kept for the most part from the public. If the state is making this law for the benefit of public safety, one would think that the officials would make it more known. Since they haven't my cynical side suspects that they merely want to take a monetary advantage of people who don't know about or refuse to follow the law.
Regardless of the government's motivation, I think this law is a good thing. Normally I don't like the state to enact laws that regulate personal safety (such as mandating motorcycle helmets). However, given the rate of accidents that are caused by cell phones hopefully many people in addition to the drivers will benefit.
*By quoting this statistic I by no means want to mitigate the danger of drunk drivers. I suspect that even if cell phones cause more
accidents, drunk drivers cause more fatal accidents.
UPDATE: I talked to a police officer who attends my church and he said that he hasn't heard of this law. Later I found out that it was some sort of joke to try to convince as many people as possible that this was true.
