Braces Off

My daughter got her braces off today !! She's had them for just slightly over 2 years. Her smile is gorgeous and her teeth look beautiful.

The orthodontist gave her a mug filled with treats that she'd been "forbidden" from eating during that time: taffy, nuts, and Cracker Jack. She said what she really was craved was a Snickers bar.

Wimbledon

As I've stated before, I'm a huge Roger Federer fan, so I'm thrilled that he's playing so well and has advanced to the second week at Wimbledon.

I truly hope that he wins and sets a new record for major titles won. Although I do hope that Rafael Nadal's knees heal so that he can play in the US Open.

Photo from RogerFederer.com

Hummingbird Garden, Part 2

This is the photo of our new hummingbird garden, just a week after planting. I've only seen 1 hummingbird so far, but I'm hoping for more.

The clematis is already blooming, big purple blooms. And the balloon flower has also bloomed.
I hope the plants grow quickly so more hummingbirds will visit.

Fire Pit

This fun fire pit was my husband's Father's Day present. He's been wanting one for a couple of years, so we finally bought it on Father's Day. We already had the paving stones so it didn't take much work to install them and get the fire pit ready.

We made a small fire that evening with and roasted marshmallows and had a very enjoyable evening. I hope we use it often during the summer and fall.

Back Pain

For a week, my son's had pain in his lower back. The way he described it at first, I just assumed it was sciatica. So he's been using ice and heat to help it but he hasn't felt like stretching it yet.

Today we consulted a doctor about it, and she diagnosed it as a muscle sprain. To help it heal faster, she suggested physical therapy sessions. We'll probably start those early next week, and I think it's going to make a big difference.

He really wants to get back on the tennis court now that school's out for summer. Plus he wants to keep working toward his driver's license which is hard to do with back pain.

Hummingbird Garden

We had a lonely bird feeder in the backyard, and I tried a hummingbird feeder there also but attracted very few hummingbirds. I know they like bushes and shrubs to land on, so my dear husband (who's the gardener in the family) took me to Lowe's so we could buy plants for a hummingbird garden.

This past weekend, we dug out an oval, broke up the hard, clay-like dirt, planted the flowers/shrubs, and spread mulch. We planted clematis, hydrangea, balloon flower, sweetspire, and coneflower.

I'm so excited to watch it grow. I'll post a picture here this week (of all the plants while they're still small-ish.

Pamela Aidan

For more on my "Pride & Prejudice" binge, my sister sent me the trilogy of Pamela Aidan books, which is P & P written entirely from Darcy's viewpoint. They are wonderful !! She actually uses verbatim conversations from P & P, but tells you what Darcy's thinking instead.

While reading the Aidan books, I would have the original P & P open and I'd find specific parts so I could see how cleverly the stories were entertwined.

I've not read much other Austen fan fiction, but I thought these were very, very well done.

Jury Duty, Part 2

I finally got called for jury duty last week. I'm on call to be a juror until July 10th, so I can't schedule a vacation during this time. I was glad to go ahead and "do my duty" so I could get on with my life and make other plans during the summer.

So all the prospective jurors went to the courtroom, saw the video about what's expected of us as jurors, and went through voir dire with the judge and the attorneys. We were given a quick recess and returned to the jury waiting area. Then the deputy came in and told us we were no longer needed and were excused. I guess the case got dismissed or settled during that time.

So, I'm still on call through July 10th......

Lost in Austen

I first heard about the movie/mini series "Lost in Austen" while surfing EntreCard sites from Confessions of a Bookworm. I ordered it from my DVD club as a birthday present for myself and watched the whole thing (all 3 hours) last night. It's absolutely wonderful.

Of course I've seen the other Pride and Prejudice movies/mini series and read the books AND some of the fan fiction (I'll post more on that tomorrow). So this was a joy. The screenplay was really delightful, and I stayed completely hooked.

Now I'm ready to go watch the Keira Knightley movie again, THEN rewatch this one. Maybe I can convince my daughter to watch them with me this time.

French Open Finals

I was absolutely thrilled that Roger Federer won his 14th Major title AND won his 1st French Open title this morning.

And thanks to NBC for also showing part of 2008's now-legendary Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final 'cos I was traveling and didn't get to see any of it. Along those lines, I can't wait to find the book about the match "Strokes of Genius" by L. John Wertheim.

Photo from BBC Sport

Kathy Reichs

I finished "Devil Bones" by Kathy Reichs and (as usual) I thoroughly loved her books and can't wait for the next. This is the 11th in the series featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. This series is also the inspiration for the tv series "Bones" which I've never watched.

Temperance Brennan is such a fun character. Kathy Reichs describes her as feisty and 40-something and her personal life is like a soap opera (which is probably why the books are so much fun).

Embedding Spreadsheets

I finally found out how to embed an interactive spreadsheet into a webpage !! I'd wanted to set up a spreadsheet that could be used an order calculator for my Kats Coffees page, but couldn't find the right way to do it.

Then I stumbled across Zoho productivity applications and web office, and the spreadsheet application worked beautifully. I've tried it on one other computer to make sure that it was still editable, and so far, it works exactly as I wanted.

If you want to check it out for me, just type in some dummy info and prices, and make sure that it's updating and calculating correctly. Please leave me a comment if you find any errors.

I'm not affiliated in any with Zoho, but I am a consultant for Kats Coffees

Hail Storm

We had a hail storm last night and lost 3 shutters from our house. One is from the 2nd floor and I saw it fly past the window. I felt like I was in "Wizard of Oz" with Elmira Gulch riding past on her bike while Dorothy's in the "cyclone". (It really wasn't THAT bad).

I reached the original house builder this afternoon and he put me in touch with his subcontractor for the windows and shutters, so hopefully we'll be all set. I hope he can match the existing shutters so we don't have to replace all of them, but I should know more tomorrow.

Steve Berry

I just finished "The Charlemagne Pursuit" by Steve Berry which is such a fun thriller to read. It's the 4th in the series featuring Cotton Malone who is a "retired" military officer, now a bookseller. He gets involved in these wild adventures looking for Templar treasure, the library of Alexandria, and more.

If you liked "The Da Vinci Code", you would like these as well. They're historically researched so they're based on facts which makes them more fun. I enjoyed reading Berry's Writer's Notes at the end of the books first since he explains what's fact vs what's fiction, and I find that fascinating.

Top Droppers for May

Thank you so much to my top droppers for May. If you want to know more about this, please visit EntreCard


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