Things that Scare Us

At night, we’ve noticed huge, scary, gross slugs that come from who knows where and slime around where we take Panther out to relieve herself. And by huge, we mean 6 or 7 inches long and an inch wide. Tim doesn’t like to go out barefoot with the slugs for fear they will slime him or he will accidentally step on one (he never goes out without his shoes anymore)…I’m not much better. They are really gross and apparently, if you ask Panther, they taste disgusting. 

I can’t help but wonder what they do. They seem to literally come from no where and don’t make it very far during the night…so my theory is they come out of somewhere, go across the driveway and return. But what are they searching for? 

Family Photo

Panther Time

Panther loves to snuggle and burrow into your neck after she wakes up from a nap. It’s one of my favorite things about her recently.

Heat Days

Monday and Tuesday, we closed school early because it was so hot. We had temperatures close to 100 degrees and our school is not even close to being air-conditioned (and no, they didn’t put air conditioning in the new school building opening August 2008!). I have never heard of schools closing because of the heat, but I was so thankful our school was pressured to close because surrounding schools shut down. Peer pressure can be a great thing.

Ace Reporting

NPR has run numerous stories on rising gas prices. Many clips have created interesting questions about the far reaching effects of the high prices at the pump - a recent one felt like they heard my concerns and responded with a story about states like Montana and it’s residents, who have long drives and small wages.

But there have been some major flops with the coverage on the gas prices. 

A few weeks ago, just about when Connecticut went over the $4.00 mark, a reporter did some interviews at a gas station in DC. Five or six people were interviewed and every single one of them was lamenting that they were officially paying more at the pump than they ever had before. Really?! That’s what I call front page (speaker?) news…high prices at the pump.

And yet, today as I filled up the car and the price went over $40.00, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, that’s the first time I have ever paid that much for a single tank of gas with this car…”

Dorothy

We took Panther for her first bike ride on Saturday. I have a strong mesh attachable basket that is made for groceries or as we discovered, dog like Panther. She laid down in the basket and enjoyed the wind in her hair. We ended up at the beach and got some good exercise. 

I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

Anne Shirley

Anne of Green Gables turns 100 this year. Anyone want to go to Prince Edward Island for the celebration?

Stuart

Has anyone ready Stuart Little recently? We picked up the E.B. White classic at our church garage sale last week and I started reading it before bed the other night. (a side note: I have been reading lots of children’s books before bed because they seem to clear my mind rather nicely. I like to read before bed, but if I am too into the book, I can’t put it down and I end up reading hours beyond my bed time. I don’t have that problem with children’s books. I have recently enjoyed 4 or 5 Ramona books, a Roald Dahl book, and a few others.)

Back to Stuart. I had remembered the book was about a small talking mouse who was adopted into the family and the family had a crazy time trying to adjust to such a small person. If that is what you remember, maybe you should keep that memory and not read the following spoiler. The first paragraph of the book reads,

When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only two inches high; and he had a  mouse’s sharp nose, a mouse’s tail, a mouse’s wishers and the pleasant shy manner of a mouse.

Does anyone else find this really disturbing? The woman gave birth to a mouse! Maybe I am more disturbed by this because the actual birth giving process is more on my mind with close friends having babies (say hello to Sam)…or I am a woman who is capable of giving birth and someday could have the vision of Mrs. Little in my mind when I am in a hospital. I had to read the passage a few times to make sure they were actually saying that she gave birth to the mouse. But there seems to be no way around it, Mrs. Little gave birth to a mouse. Disgusting. 

A New Blog

Tim finally switched me over to a wordpress blog. The features seem easier to manage and I can choose from hundreds of blog themes. I’ve searched through nearly every one of the designs. For now, I have chosen the Bluebird theme…enjoy the new look.

Two ticks, a foreign substance, sunshine, and a walk near the ocean

  

Nicole and Panther