Stop. Expectation time

I can't believe that tomorrow is August already. This year has really gone by in a blink. I mean, seven months down, five to go. And I haven't accomplished much, I don't think. But just for non-funsies, let's check out the yearly EXPECTATION tally.
I still am endeavoring to lose some pounds (#2); I am reading a whole lot, though the actual To-Be-Read Pile is still piled high (#3); I'm not writing my book, since I still don't have the idea I like, or the courage (#4); The Great Credit Card Payoff has been suspended due to lack of bonuses (#5); Sydney goes back to school next week, and that means I get back to hiking the trail, even in the August heat (#9).
My lack of EXPECTATION accomplishment is horrifying. But a few of these I have no control over, like, um, you know, I guess just the one, ... #5.
The pounds thing is a constant struggle. The To-Be-Read Pile is less interesting than The Mortal Instruments right now. Again, I have no idea for a book written by me. I begin to reconcile myself with the fact that some of this year's EXPECTATIONs will be for naught.

Distractions and random projects

Wait. So it's been four days since I posted something?
I could swear that it had only been a day or two.
Such is the tractor beam, laser-like focus of reading books, just as I mentioned to you earlier last week. Trust though, that my kids have all been fed, my daughter has clean clothes, and my house is not a disaster zone.
I finished books two and three of the Mortal Instruments series, and am eager to dig in to books four and five, which are just waiting for me on my nightstand right now. Brian and I watched a movie doubleheader today, featuring The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Robocop (2014), neither of which I highly recommend. The highlight of my day was discovering a spelling error on a television ad this afternoon. Also, I finished the pink and orange popcorn portions of the popcorn jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table. I also applied for three jobs tonight, and one of them I am actually supremely qualified for, so that would be cool. I sent a follow-up letter to the freakishly candid cover letter I wrote a couple weeks ago, essentially saying, "Really? No response? Come on! Okay, fine, Here it is again." So, we'll see if we get a reaction to that.

And a happy Saturday, it was

ITEM!: I think that perhaps one of my favorite things ever is to be laying in bed, cozy in a blanket, and reading a book while Oliver snores and snuggles on my lap. It made me so happy to spend a couple hours like that this afternoon. Yes, I was permitted to start my book because Mom had other plans for the afternoon. I'm about halfway done with it now, and will probably finish it tomorrow after she leaves.
ITEM!: We are watching Brave right now. Mom had never seen it, and mentioned as much the last time she was here. I found it and recorded it a couple weeks ago for us to watch this weekend. She's pretty into it, and I had forgotten how fun and really good it was. What we're discovering is that it also is a quite loud movie, and I'm constantly turning down, and then turning up, the volume. I'm being ever vigilant. Anything for the love of Merida though, right?
ITEM!: Cooper ventured upstairs while we were at dinner, and happily kidnapped one of Mom's sandals, dragged it downstairs, and proceeded to gnaw on its kitten heel. Even more happily, this happened after Mom has spent the last three days falling into smitten with the monster, so he didn't get into too much trouble. The shoe will be fine.
ITEM!: We just spent the last 20 minutes outside watching the lightning storm, because we're dorks, but also because lightning storms are awesome. Admit it; you're jealous. You want to stand outside in the wind and watch the lightning, too.

Almost sang "Vogue," but resisted

I came to the realization today that my daughter is much more stylish than I am. She wore grey leggings with lace at the ankles, and a white tank covered by a blue and black leopard-print tank, with a short denim jacket. Some basic Old Navy flip flops. Also, a cool, black flower ring. Her hair was down with a single blue barrette in it. ... And she looked awesome. So fantastic, and so grown up. All I could think, every time she frickin' STRUCK A POSE today, was that I was definitely going to have my hands full of fashionista over the next several, several years.
So we did a bit of shopping. The gift card for a store paid for a leopard-print skirt, and a shirt with a sequin-decorated leopard face on it. She simply HAD to wear the entire outfit once we got home, and then added the lacy and decorative hair tie in a ponytail.
I'm so glad we managed to not find a Justice this morning, else I would have had a freak-out on my hands, since I refuse to pay regular retail at that store, and she would not have accepted that well.
Honestly, you guys, she struck a pose everywhere.

B - B - B - B - B - Burgers ...

You know when you eat way too much heavy food, and then you spend the entire afternoon kind of waddling around all slowly and uncomfortably? Yeah, that happened to me today. Mom, Sydney and I went to an awesome hamburger joint, which was a great idea. Then, we ordered and ate too much food, which ended up not being a great idea. I started with a orange soda float, which was delicious. Thankfully, we decided against the artichoke dip for an appetizer. I had a huge (because that's the only way to have them there) hamburger, with smoked mozzarella and smoked Applewood bacon. Also, I ordered zucchini fries to go with the burger. These fries were a larger order than I remembered, and in fact, filled up an entire plate. Mom ordered onion rings with her burger, so she couldn't be too much help with the destruction of the zucchini. Again, thankfully, we decided against dessert. But I finished most of the float.
And then, I spent the afternoon moving lethargically, groaning whenever I sat down, and just living with that general feeling of ... blah * fat * blah.
The most frustrating thing is that a mere six hours later, I was all hungry again. My goodness, it would work out so well if after a meal like my lunch, I was able to survive for a day or two without getting hungry or eating. No doubt I ate enough calories to get through the next couple days without any additional incoming food. Alas, my stomach digested all that food, and was then ready for more.
I fear for my tomorrow, for which Mom and I have already scheduled out our meals. Mexican for lunch, and then delicious Italian for dinner? But of course! I'll be hungry by then!

Books must be read!

I don't think anyone has enabled, and suffered for, my love of reading more than my mom. She's the rock star that knows how precious an hour or so in a Barnes & Noble is to me, and endeavors to entertain my kid so I may have it. One of my birthday presents every year? B&N membership so I get a price percentage off books throughout the year. Also, she's sure that Santa always leaves a B&N gift card in my stocking every year. And that's just how she's spoiled me over the last few years. Prior to that, it was trips to the bookstore, piles of books brought home, and encouragement to learn and grow and be entertained by what I was/am reading. Oh, she is the best.
How has she been made to suffer in all this? Well, my reading can become somewhat ... monopolizing ... of my attention. I've got to have a book everywhere I go, and I tend to lack focus on anything else until said book is finished. Vacation? Books must be read. Summer? Books must be read! Weekend? BOOKS MUST BE READ!!
I remember fondly a moment one night when I was in high school. We had gone to the book store earlier in the week, and Mom had bought me a nice pile of new tomes. I was halfway through the second one, and reading in my room before dinner. I guess she'd been calling me, or something, I don't know, but she came storming into my room, snatched up the rest of the pile of books, gave me THE LOOK, and then stalked out of the room. Apparently, my attention was required elsewhere.
Fast forward to last night, when I said this to her: "I think I'm going to go to Barnes & Noble tomorrow. I've decided that I'm not reading my Summer Reading List books because my brain is on the last one. I need to know what happens next in the Mortal Instruments books. I'm going to pick up the rest of them in the morning. Nothing else is interesting to me right now."
The silence on the phone, whether intentional or not, was deafening to me. All I could hear was her brain screaming, "Don't you DARE buy those books and start them before my weekend out there!!"
So of course, now that I actually have the second book in the series, I feel better about waiting for Sunday afternoon to start reading it. I can see it on my nightstand, and I can even sneak a peek at the first chapter, and then set it down. Because the last thing I want is for her to come into my room and confiscate my books again.

Happy anniversary, you crazy kids

I enjoy that a few people on my Facebook timeline today called my 13th wedding anniversary: "Lucky 13." I think it will be a good year, as now our marriage is officially a TEEN. And a teen in a good way, too, not all moody and self-centered and rude to other people or anything.

Skin feels like an inferno (get it?)

Brian said to me the other day: "Hey, how is that Dan Brown book? Is it good?"
I had to admit to him that I hadn't even started it, and that the bookmark was only in the middle of the book because it didn't have an actual place yet. I really need to get started on it. I've got three books to read before the end of August, and I really, really, really want to read other things, too.

I did a good job of getting myself too much sun at the lake this weekend. Someone explain to me why I think that the sun just won't burn me. I don't even have a rationale for the sun to not burn me, but just that it won't. Like, "I'm an Owens, you won't burn me." And time and time again, this ... let's call it ... sun false-superiority ends up being the bane of my existence. I didn't get burned enough to be in pain, but I am red enough to be mad at myself about it. Good news: I kept Sydney from too much red, though she did get pinker than I'd like on her nose and cheeks. It's hard to keep track when she's in and out of the water, and we've been on the boat for 10 hours or whatever. Ho hum. After every lake trip, I come home bemoaning my lack of sunscreen diligence. I do not know the sun that much better than the sun owns (er, knows) me. Brian got the charred arms anyway, and I wasn't in charge of him.

Really. I'd be super good at it

I hear that Brian has fallen asleep in front of The Jewel of the Nile downstairs. It's at the end of the movie, when all the people are chanting "Omar! Omar!" super loud at the big demonstration. And now that I've tuned in to what's playing down there, all I hear is Danny DeVito, a bit of Kathleen Turner, and a whole lot of movie extras. DeVito's got a really distinctive voice. I do enjoy this movie, but the "Omar!" is bugging me. I keep waiting for it to wake Brian, and then he'll change the channel. But what I'm pretty sure is going to happen, is that I'm going to finish this blog post, shut down and put the computer to bed, and then go downstairs and change the channel and turn down the volume myself.
Who at the movie channel offices decided that The Jewel of the Nile needed to be on rotation again? I'm fascinated by the thought process there. I want to be in those meetings. Do they have a brainstorming session once a month, where everyone brings in the title of their most obscure movie and they throw them all in a hat for a person picked at random to select? Because that would be cool. I would ask for Prince of Persia. (I will not explain myself for that.) Or Red Planet. How about The Italian Job, the first Hangover, and The Goonies? All good movies that should be considered.
p.s. I just checked HBO's Careers web site, and there's no listing for Awesome Person to Help Pick Obscure Movies. Damn.

One movie; two movies; yay!

One of my favorite things today: movie doubleheader. (Can only be beat by the movie trifecta.) Brian and I went to the theater and watched Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. (There are too many prepositions in that movie title, and that bothers me very much.) I thoroughly enjoyed my popcorn, and the movie a bit, too. As Brian said, "I don't like movies that seem to not end, but just set up a next movie." And I'll say that, though this movie was good, it definitely served the purpose as the middle bit. And I know I generally refuse to see Monkey Movies, but I agreed to this because there was absolutely nothing else that we had any interest in seeing at the theater today.
Second movie: Snowpiercer on iTunes. We actually rented this movie a couple days ago, but Brian's been falling asleep early over the last couple nights, so we hadn't watched it yet. But with Katy hanging out with us today, we thought that a good movie would be an excellent way to spend the evening. And it was a good movie. (That's all I'll say, to keep this post spoiler free.) Well worth the chance we took on it.
Movies are, like, one of my favorite things.

A very healthy old fart of a dog

Let's take a few moments to talk about my old man.
We visited a new vet today for an estimate on a teeth cleaning, because the boy definitely needs it done. He had to have the initial examination and office visit for the estimate, so we did that. I was genuinely interested in the doctor's opinion of Oliver's health, since he's 13 years old, and it's a good idea to get a fresh pair of hands and eyes on him.
Diagnosis: He's fine. In fact, he's in great shape. Heart and lungs sound good. Ears are clear. Eyes have some cataract clouding, though it's not yet hampering his vision. His teeth really do need a good cleaning. His temperature is normal. He weighs 23.4 lbs., which she was a little bit concerned about, but I know that 23.4 is a good number; he's fluctuated between 22 and 25 lbs. his whole life.
He does have some mild arthritis in his rear knees. The doc suggested that, while it may be too early for pain medication, he may benefit from some glucosamine every day. I can give him the human kind, if I want, or there is a canine form that is actually a pseudo-treat, too. I'll investigate that because he does take more time going up and down the stairs lately. Of course, I know he's 13, so he'll slow down, but if I can make him more comfortable in his everyday tasks, I'll do it.
But what amazed me most about the appointment was the amount of times the doctor said, "as he gets older." As in, "as he gets older," the cataracts will make it more difficult for him to see. "As he gets older," he won't expel as much energy, so you'll have to watch how much and what he eats. "As he gets older," the arthritis will get worse, and we'll get him on some pain medication. "As he gets older," we should probably see him twice a year.
I'm like, okay wait. "As he gets older"? He's already 13 and a half years old! He'll be 14 in October! I know I'm expecting another three or four (or even five?) more years out of him, but my goodness. In the context of the conversation today, all I could think was, "He already is older!"
But still, it was a positive appointment outcome. While I will stick with our regular vet for his general maintenance, we'll probably go to this place for his teeth cleaning (way less expensive). Of course, the best news is that the boy is in good shape, and should be around for a while longer.

Just another (not)-manic Monday

ITEM!: I stayed up too late last night watching Sunday-night television, hence the lack of blog post. One of our shows, Ray Donovan, began its new season, in addition to our watching True Blood and Last Week Tonight, so it was a full-up evening. All entertaining television, and all was well worth the staying up late. This morning was a painful one, especially since I had to get up early to get the kid to camp.
ITEM!: The Costa Concordia was successfully floated the six feet required to move the ship off the rocks and into the bay. Over the next few days, it'll be raised an additional 30 feet, and then, if all goes well, it'll be towed to an Italian shipyard where the ship will be scrapped. This continues to fascinate me, and I will continue to bring you updates, whether you want them or not.
ITEM!: Speaking of True Blood, I honestly didn't think that Eric Northman could be any more one of my TV boyfriends, but lately, he's totally shot up the list to the top. The last couple episodes have been a DVR-and-rewinding delight, and oh my god, to be wanted by such a person. My crush is in full force, and all bets are off. I'm about three more viewings of this latest episode away from buying a frickin' poster for my bedroom. UPDATE: I just checked Amazon for Eric Northman posters, and while there are some that are good, none of them are what I'm looking for. Also, there will be True Blood Pop! vinyl figures, and the Eric one is available on July 30. Looks like I'll be collecting a couple more of those things. (I already have Mary Poppins. I'm constantly hunting for Daryl Dixon. My spirit animals are varied.)
ITEM!: There is a clearance sale at Old Navy, and I'm dying to get there. I got too lazy for it today, for no real reason, so it's on my list for tomorrow. I need stuff. You know what I wear a lot of? Capri sweat pants. I've got a pair Mom and Howie bought me in Nantucket that are falling apart at the seams now. I bought another pair at Old Navy a couple months ago, but having only one pair is not cutting it. I wear them, like, every day. And I need more. Those, and other randoms for myself and my kid are what I'm looking for.
ITEM!: I need to get started on Inferno, by Dan Brown, which is the book I've selected to read next. It's downstairs right now, and I really do have the time and energy to start it right now, but I think I'll wait for tomorrow. An extra hour sleep will do me good tonight. ... I'm into the Mortal Instruments series though. The first book was good, and it's hooked me into what happens next. Number two is now on my list for when I'm done with this list.

Way too fascinated lately

So this is the rainbow we saw this evening while we were walking Oliver and Cooper. You should know that it actually stretched across the sky, forming a perfect arc. In fact, it was even a double rainbow on one side. It was so perfectly lit, and the colors themselves were so distinct, that we must have taken about 15 pictures if the thing. What's wrong with that? Well, it seems I've become a bit of a nature photographer lately, constantly snapping pics of clouds, trees, and the like. If it's not a picture of my kid or my dogs, it's a frickin' cloud. Also, I really want everyone to see how pretty, but I may be going a bit crazy posting these pictures to Favebook.

So tonight, the blog gets one. The rainbow was super, duper pretty.

p.s. I composed and published this post on my phone, since I'm reading today. So any formatting issues will be fixed tomorrow night.

Read these books to buy those books

So, it turns out that the best way to get myself to crack a book on the Summer Reading List 2014 and start reading, is to tell myself that I am not allowed to buy any new books until these four are finished. Two of my authors have new books released this month, and I've been looking forward to them for several months. (I note such things on my calendar, because I'm a nerd.)
I've been carrying City of Bones up and down the stairs, and even back and forth to Las Vegas, for a few weeks. It's been collecting dust on the corner table downstairs for the past several days.
But realizing today that the new Macneal is in my Barnes & Noble right now, and that the new Harkness will be there next week, was too much for me. I started City of Bones this afternoon, and while I'm only a chapter and a half into it (my daughter loves to interrupt my reading, the punk), I think I will enjoy it and dig in quickly. In fact, I'm blogging early so I can settle in and read for a couple hours.
I forget, sometimes, how much I love to read. I'm excited to get started again, and the pile before me presents a nifty challenge. Do I dare give myself a time frame? Well, the fact that it's the Summer Reading List 2014 will be my time frame, I suppose. I'll shave that to being the end of August, instead of late September ... because I really want to read those new books.

Honesty counts for something, right?

I just wrote the most frank and honest cover letter for a job that I ever have before. Honestly, I'm getting super frustrated in the job market, some because I can't find anything I want to do, and also because I kind of don't want to find anything. So, there's a definite push and pull in my job hunt. But also I'm finding that I need to be a bit more interesting in my letters. My resume is boring, and features a big, fat eight-year hole in it, so something has to grab the HR manager's attention.
Witness this letter:
​Good morning, Ms. [HR person]!
I hope you're having a great day so far!
My name is [me], and I am an awesome editor.
Awesome editors, of course, are detail oriented, efficient and able to handle multiple projects at once. That's a given. My creative writing, grammatical checks, and proofreading are among my strongest assets, and have been both the envy and fear of the editorial staffs I've worked with in the past. I'm good at headlines, too, and always get a charge out of creating a good one. When it comes to editorial copy, I'm a master. I can turn anything into something worth reading.
I have a ton of experience writing for a variety of publications, on a surprising number of topics (martial arts and [that stuff], to restaurant write-ups and [other stuff]). So you see, I can adapt to any company's readership, demographic and editorial needs. I may not have the click-obsessive experience and knowhow that you want immediately, but I am a fast and adept learner. I fear no click-counting program!
I also recently worked as a social media community manager. An editor and social media maven in one person? Indeed!
As for salary requirements, I'm super, super flexible, and can be a real bargain. My experience screams for more, but really, about [less than I deserve] would be fine with me. And I live right up the street, so that's a plus. No worries about me being late because of traffic!
Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I have interviewed with [this company] before. About three or four years ago, I interviewed for [a different] position. From what I was told, I almost really got the job!
So, let me know if you'd be interested in meeting with me, and we can talk more!
Thank you so much for your time (and indulgence with this ridiculously frank letter),
[Signature]

I was feeling pretty good about this actually, until I just checked my e-mail so I could copy and paste this letter, and discovered an auto reply that said she was on vacation until July 21. She has limited access to e-mail though, so maybe, just maybe, I'll hear something before then. How could she not respond to this?

Random obsession update

I can't imagine how excited these Italian people on the coast are to get that huge ship out of their harbor. It's been there for two and a half years, and it's an eyesore. How clean, and amazing, and uncluttered a view they will all have again!
You remember my obsession with this, right? I've done repeated and regular checks on the ship's condition since they righted it last year, and have been waiting for this ever since it was pulled up off the bay's floor. Is it too much to hope that there will be a live webcam? Because I can really spend my entire Monday watching it.

COSTA CONCORDIA REFLOATING TO START MONDAY
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
HSAMPSON@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The process of refloating the Costa Concordia shipwreck is scheduled to begin on Monday, according to the consortium working on the removal project.
Final authorization is still pending from an oversight body, and the date could change if weather conditions are bad.
Once the vessel has been refloated in the waters off the Italian island of Giglio, it will be towed to Genoa and dismantled for recycling. The ship struck rock off the Tuscan coast in January of 2012, killing 32 people.
Costa is owned by Doral-based Carnival Corp.

We like rain. A lot.

I opened up this blog window about an hour ago, but then I got distracted. Brian and I just spent the last 45 minutes standing out on the front porch, and then sitting in the backyard, watching the rain storm. Like honestly, could we be any more Arizonan? But I'd been listening to the thunder roll closer through the window behind me, and I had to see what was happening out there. So, I woke up my husband, and dragged his whiny ass outside ... where we were then fascinated with all those water drops falling from the sky.
Anyone who saw us would probably be saying, "I can't believe they're so fascinated with weather." But really, we miss weather so much. I mean, how do you go from Boston and Houston, and all the weather associated with those two places, to living in the desert and its distinct lack of weather? Well, you do, but in so, you be super happy about any rain, thunder and lightning that happens to come your way. You know, if Sydney didn't have camp tomorrow, I would have woken her up, too, because that lightning was out of control.

The patient held the flashlight

I think maybe there is no better pairing in the world than that of a person who loves popcorn, and a spouse who is a dentist. Sure, there's something to be said for the couple who can split a salad perfectly, or who can drive and navigate expertly together, and they're fantastic. But when one person loves a thing so much (popcorn), and that thing can also be pretty painful sometimes (popcorn hull gets lodged in the gum line), and the other person has the tools (mirror and sharp thing) and skills (dental school) to alleviate that pain, and does so at midnight when woken from sleep ... well, that's something special.
And we're at such a stage, and have been together for so long, that I don't even get lectured on how awful popcorn is for my gums anymore. And I don't get attitude or static, either, because he's doing this for the one-thousandth time, because I am the person he's married. Love me for the popcorn addiction, I say!
This is, of course, the downside to his enjoyment of me eating popcorn "like a fat girl." But really, a popcorn hull getting stuck in my gums happens so rarely when you factor in how often I actually eat popcorn, that we're doing really well. Still, my gum line is super inflamed, and I really should have told him "before you decided to do dentistry with your fingernail." But it feels so much better now.

Dry, you blanket, DRY!

I'm just killing time here until my bed blanket is finished drying downstairs.
Oliver decided that the best way to wake me up this morning would be by vomiting on the bed. My dog rocks. But I already had a couple loads in the wash going, so wasn't able to get the blanket in the dryer until late this afternoon. And my dryer requires two cycles to get stuff dry. And then the lint traps were too full so even two loads didn't get the damn thing dry. So, I'm up here waiting on the THIRD cycle to finish. And no, I don't have another serviceable blanket that I could use. I want that one. And I'm super tired, so really, this should have been planned better all the way around, but I'm still not feeling too good, so my head wasn't into my day much.
Though the vomiting did get me up and about in a quick fashion this morning. And I guess I do feel a bit better than I did yesterday. I think ... I think ... this may be turning around rather quickly. Let's see tomorrow, after I've had a good night's sleep, here on my bed, under my clean and dry blanket. When it's done getting dry, I mean. *sigh* It should only be a couple more minutes.

Five-minute-later UPDATE: The dryer just sounded its alarm! Yay sleep!

My kingdom for some healthiness

I think what I hate most about being sick is getting so tired doing the simplest things, and not being able to even do the things that require a bit of extra effort. Like this morning, I had to stop, rest, and take a breather after doing nothing more than watering the plants in the house. And after going to Target and getting something for lunch, I had to take a nap. A nap. After eating lunch, for cripes sake.
I've taken my Airborne though, and my NyQuil for the night.
It isn't been lost on me that this is the third time I've been sick so far this year. If this is what my 40s are going to be like, I declare shenanigans. Being sick sucks right out loud, and I'm done with it. I've been taking my vitamins. I've been taking care of myself.
I'm about ready to blame Las Vegas. Especially since Michelle is suffering from bronchitis and mild pneumonia right now. Can a cold take four days to incubate? Brian says yes. I'll agree, I suppose, since I haven't been around anything else suspect lately. And Las Vegas is about as suspect as you can get.

Fireworks up in the sky go boom

A funny thing happened on our way to a relatively lame Fourth of July: our friendly neighborhood event pavilion and horsey area decided to have its own fireworks display. This display was big, awesome, and totally visible from our driveway and neighborhood street. And best of all, it started right after the television specials, so Sydney was still awake and could enjoy it with us.
We had decided to wait until Sunday to watch the local city display, so we were content hanging out inside with the air conditioning. Sydney had just come back downstairs after putting on her pajamas when we heard the first couple loud booms. Brian and I jumped up and hurried out the front door to see how well we could see the fireworks. I picked up Sydney and we walked into the street. And what to our wandering eyes should appear? But a 20-minute, big-sky exploding, booming, and night-brightening performance that wowed us and made us so happy we stayed home.
The second best part: walking 15 feet to come back home.

Life is on a highway

Do you think this is a real photo? If it isn't, well, it's super cute and someone had adorable fun with their graphic design program for an afternoon. If it is real, well then, I think it's super awesome. And still very adorable.

Ice cream should taste better than that

ITEM!: Sydney and I tried to make blueberry ice cream this afternoon. It was not entirely successful. I had thought that just making the vanilla recipe and adding blueberries to it would be the right course. And the blending of the blueberries, and the ice cream making itself was positive. But all I could smell when I tried to the ice cream was the vanilla. So tomorrow (yes, tomorrow), I will try again with the ice cream base only, minus the vanilla portion of the recipe. And I'm going to double-up on the blueberries. I will succeed at this ice cream-making venture, by hook or by crook.
ITEM!: I had some major mole-removal surgery this morning. Not really "major," but it was a pretty big mole on my back that needed to be scraped off. I had it biopsied a couple months ago, if you'll remember, and it's fine, but the doctor thought it would be better to remove the entire thing. With the middle third of the mole already gone, all that was left was for the doctor to remove the two thirds on each side. The topical anesthesia worked just fine, but I've got to tell you, it's a sore and itchy spot right now. She did tell me that the biopsy spot healed up perfectly, which made me feel like I was a good, cooperative patient. I shall be sure that the other two spots heal up well, too. (Of course, since they're on my back, they are more Brian's responsibility than mine.)
ITEM!: My nose has decided to be stuffed up. It's like, I was halfway through making the ice cream and my right nostril slammed shut, and I've been sniffing the whole rest of the day. I will not tolerate this kind of nonsense. It will not happen. I will make the nose snot go away!

Yep, I said "swell"

July is so lucky, because it's super hot here, and because it's the desert.
So this month, my avatar exhibits exactly what's going on where I am: It's sunny. I'm in the desert. My word is law. (I do strongly disagree with the Egyptian slave thing, though.) I prefer sandals. I should probably use a walking stick to keep myself from tripping and falling. I just killed a cricket.
July haiku:
It gets super hot
and we stay inside all day,
but it's a dry heat.
There's a lot of swell stuff happening this month though, so there's that.

Move along; nothing to see here

So, you see a Facebook post from a friend on your feed. This post is liked by a few people, and even agreed to enthusiastically by others in the comment section. The post itself is politically charged. You disagree with it.
What does the typical Facebook person do in this situation? Most, I think, would either read the posts and grimace, or just scroll past it. Some may even remove it from their timeline so they don't have to see it. I've done all those things. I'm betting that you have, as well.
So it takes a special person to look at that particular post, and then type out a dissenting opinion. I'm not saying that if you disagree, you should shut up. I'm saying that, if you disagree, and roll with it on that post, you should be prepared for all the response from the post's previous "likes" and commenters. You may be right, or you may be wrong, but you will probably be shouted down, no matter what. I can't imagine taking on that kind of attention voluntarily.
Facebook is not the place to try to change anyone's mind. In fact, the internet in its entirety is not the place for that; people can hide behind their keyboards too easily and stubbornly. I saw a post today that made me mad, and you know what I did? I scrolled past it, and then even went back and removed it from my feed. I feel like if more people just did that, our evenings would be a lot less exhausting.