Kids repeat what they hear, or what they think they hear. What they think they hear is what is most familiar. For example, my 3 year old’s body parts are: “Finger, hand, elmo.” “Mouth, nose, eyes, ears, hat.” I thought I would improve things upon discussion of a familiar song. “Bah-Bah black sheep have you any wood yes, sure, yes, sure, three bags full one for my mister and one for my day and one for the little boy who lives down that way” At least he didn’t ask to “EIEIO place”, which is his way of saying where Old MacDonald and Happy Meals live.

I read the recipe in Good Housekeeping and was anxious to try it. It was very easy, just about four ingredients and everything was cooked on the BBQ, so clean up was also simple. We had a rice dish made with red and green peppers, onion, rice and corn. The combination worked very well together and again, it wasn’t too complicated and the fact that the veggies and rice were cooked in one frying pan meant that clean up was again very easy. Finally I steamed some asparagus. I don’t ‘scale’ the asparagus like some people recommend but I do snap off the tough ends. If you bend the asparagus close to the ends, it will naturally snap off where the spear is not longer tender. It was a great dinner without much work or clean up, what could be better.

When I have time to spare, I love to read. When I’m not reading and I have time to shop, I browse the bookstores and second hand shops for books. My book collection, including quite a few that I inherited, numbers in the thousands. I’ve read a lot of them. But I also collect books in hopes of reading them one day. Book clubs send me their offers and I forget to return the card declining the selection of the month. Recently, I have found very good deals on fairly current hardcover books at the local dollar store. The public library also sells books they have no use for, and I am a frequent customer.

My favorite movie is Yaavarum Nalam. This is a basically a Tamil movie which is then made in Hindi also. Madhavan stars hero in this movie and it is purely a thriller. Why this movie is my favorite is only because of the movie making and screenplay. The story goes like this. All persons in a family will be killed on one day. Madhavan will enter into his life and settles in a new apartment. In his television, those ghosts will enter and will play as characters in a serial. The surprising thing is, that serial called “YAAVARUM NALAM” will be relayed in his television only. He will come to know this only after some time. The happenings in that serial will become real in his life. How he manages with those ghosts is the rest of the movie. It’s a brilliant and splendid movie ever made in Tamil which deals with ghosts in a very nice way.

Last weekend started to waking up with my girlfriend, because she slept over Friday night. We woke up and had breakfast, then went to 7-11 to get some snacks and play lotto tickets. We spent three dollars on lotto tickets and ended up winning five dollars, so we made two bucks. After that I drove her home so she could take a shower and change and grab a couple drinks from the home kegerator. Later that day I picked her up again and we spent the rest of our Saturday at the mall and movies. Sunday wasn’t too interesting. My friends who does tattoos came over to give my other friend a tattoo, then they went home. I pretty much spent the rest of the day on Xbox then went to bed.

My days are generally not very exciting, and today is a good example of that. I got up early and saw my husband off to his golf game. Next, I read headlines and email on my computer. After that, my dog, Pepper, and I went to the local dog park, where we walked and played ball. She greeted some canine friends and I did the same with my human ones. After that, we delivered some of my husband’s homemade cookies to a friend whose veteran’s group sends them to the troops in Afghanistan. After that, it was time to do a few to check with writing.

Last night we had homemade pizza. I have a recipe for pizza crust that I have been making for over 40 years. It was originally from a magazine and is supposedly one from a celebrity actor/director. Whether it is or not it is a very easy and very tasty recipe; especially now with the new machines that have hooks to mix bread dough as attachments. I made two different ones and we will have them for lunch today and tomorrow as well as having had them for dinner last night. On the first one I used pizza sauce and Italian blend cheeses and lots of pepperoni. On the second one I used homemade basil pesto in place of sauce and added a fried onion, sliced, canned roasted red peppers and mushrooms and Romano cheese only. No cheeses that would melt and get “gooey”. If you like the idea of any of these I think you could use a pre-made crust and get close to the same results. There are a lot of delicious pestos on the market!

When I’m not working, I love being outside. I love exploring the natural world around me through activities like backpacking, camping, rock climbing, and canoeing. There are so many beautiful locations that are hidden from the average view, but easily accessible to someone who takes the time to get to them! I also love mountain biking through the woods or road biking down country roads; there’s nothing more scenic than the hills of the country on a beautiful autumn day. Other relaxing activities include running, swimming, and learning to eat healthy. Besides benefiting the nutrition and overall fitness of my body, these activities are interesting and fun to learn about.