Happy birthday to blogging!

I just realized that May 26 was the 6th birthday of Random Thoughts! 

I've done over 600 posts.

I've had a lot to say over the years.

Well, blog, happy birthday and may we have many years of fun ahead of us.

Pictures of the local vegitation

Pictures!!

The spiral!

It's my herb garden.  I had an entirely different idea of what it should look like, but the kind of materials to build what I wanted would get expensive.  Still, I like the look of the spiral and hopefully, it will look very nice when things start to grow.  So far, I've planted peppermint, spearmint, lemon mint, borage, basil and mullein.  I've got a few others that I'll be planting when the local temps gets a bit warmer.  It will be awesome!  The lemon mint has begun to sprout.

Some of the local blooms.  The last two weeks were filled with trees that looked like this.  White blooms everywhere.  Now these trees are filled with green leaves.

I took this picture while driving a nearby neighborhood.  I'm sure the owner of the house thought I was crazy. 

I know this is hard to see, but to the right, next to my van mirror, there are tulips of all colors blooming.  They are so beautiful.  I couldn't get a better picture, because once again, I was driving and there was a car behind me.

The peas growing in the garden.

OK, like I've said, I'm not a photographer.  In fact, our camera needs it's battery recharged, but I can't find the recharger.  Things are still getting moved around and situated in the house.  It takes time to get the furniture just right.  I know where the recharger was, but I moved it because I needed to put a piece of furniture in front on the plug.  I remember thinking to myself that I need to put this recharger somewhere obvious so I can find it again.  I guess I didn't follow my own advice well.

The search is on!

local entertainment

This week my hair has been frizzy!  What is going on?  Oh yes, I've moved back into the world of humidity. 

If I could create my perfect world, there would be green trees, grass, flowers, tall mountains and thunderstorms.  All the while maintaining the dry arid air of the desert.  My skin, hair, and senses would be so happy.

This area that I live in is very wooded.  The trees are starting to produce white flowers and green leaves!!!!  There is a lot of wildlife for being the middle of a large city.  There are deer, squirrels, and birds galore: cardinals, blue jays, wood peckers, robins and turkey vultures. (Turkey vultures are huge!)

I've also seen foxes, chipmunks,  possums and even a wood chuck!  I had never seen a wood chuck before.  At first I thought it was a beaver, but that didn't make sense for the area I saw it in.  So maybe it was a groundhog.  Then, my husband saw it and identified it as a wood chuck.  Very cool!

Road kill is plenty here.  The only way I know possums live in the area is that I've seen them as road kill (a lot.)  In one spot a couple of weeks ago, which we drive past everyday, a deer got hit and was dead along the side of the road.  It never got moved.  I don't know who moves dead animals off the road, but this poor creature was left.  It is still there, at least, what is left of it.  It has been interesting (in a gross morbid way) to watch it decompose. 

Thank goodness there are beautiful flowers and trees to watch bloom.  The world is becoming green again.  Flowers and roadkill.  Local entertainment at its best.

Pictures to come (of flowers, not roadkill) if I can get my camera to cooperate.

Radio DJ

When I was a kid, we spent a lot of time in the family van.  Mom had a favorite radio station and we all were big fans of the morning program.  Ron and Suzy discussed traffic, weather, celebrity news, local news, and played all the popular songs like Uptown Girl.

I had a tape player.  This is obviously pre-CDs.  I also had a record player.  I loved tape recording myself on my tape player.  I would chat or sing or make up stories.  I started doing radio programs just like the morning shows.  Along with news and weather, I could do interviews.  I would ask the questions and in a deeper voice, answer the questions.  Thanks to the record player in my room, I could even have music on my radio program.  I did my own commercials.  It was so much fun.

My brother did his own radio program on my tapes and his were the best. Once he did a radio program on our Dad's little hand held tape player.  The best part of this was that it could be played at double speed.  I loved listening to my brother talking at double speed. It was double funny.

Part of me wishes that I had a tape recorder and I could do my own radio shows again.  The question is now, would I have the imagination to do it?  Could I chat about this, that or whatever without feeling silly?  Or would I just sound like some boring old adult?

My Mom, sister and I have talked over the years.  We think we could create a really great show.  Cooking, cleaning, child rearing, decorating, and personal opinion pieces.  Yes, we could do it all and it would be pretty dang funny.

Y'all just wait.  Move over Oprah, the T-Ladies are in the house!

Prioritizing my priorities

Hubby and I had a long chat today.  Long chats at home are rare.  Kids don't usually let us have that kind of time.  We talked about priorities in our duties and our personal pursuits.  We each have a long list of things that need to be done and a long list of things we want to get done.  We worry about teaching the kids all they need to know.  Are we succeeding?  Sometimes I think we are doing OK and other times I realize we have much more to teach them.

It is hard to get everything done that we need and want to do.  There is so much to do and only so much time.  Even so, dealing with kids can really break us down emotionally.  Not that the kids are bad, but caring for them and their needs is so wearing that sometimes there is just no energy left to do other things.

It's getting better in many ways as they get older.  I was able to do my theater last summer and I've been doing school this year.  There is still a lot to try and fit into each day and lately, I haven't been good about managing my time.  I work and work, but I don't think I really accomplish anything.  I don't normally like a strict schedule, but I'm thinking for a while I might need to plan my hours so I can try and get as much done with the time I have each day. 

Ironically, I haven't found the time to sit down and write our my daily schedule.  Maybe tomorrow I can schedule in some time to plan the schedule.

I've been busy....

I've been quite busy lately.  It's good to keep busy, but I don't feel like I accomplish much despite my business.

Mostly, I've been doing school work.  I've got a paper due on Monday.  I've spent a lot of time on it during the last two weeks.  Unfortunately, I was checking on my school site and reading the forums that go along with the papers.  Just in the last few days, the professor updated the requirements for the paper.  I had do re-write about half of it!  AHH!  I've asked Hubby to edit it for funky grammar, incomplete ideas and such.  Once he is done with that, I'll be able to pull the rest of the paper together.  I want to turn it in by Saturday.  I need this off my mind.  Also, I've been neglecting the other class completely for two weeks while I try and work on this paper.

Other busy things include the usual, cooking, cleaning, and mounds of laundry.  Why do they want dinner every night???  There is also helping kids with homework, baths, taking kids shopping for clothes and shoes.  Why do they keep growing???  And grocery shopping....  I need to set up some dental appointments for various members of the family, plant the herb garden I've set up.  Oo!  Wait until I show you pictures of what I've done.  It's going to be cool!

NOT my desk, thank goodness, but it is what
I feel like right now.

I've quit writing, quit weaving and the 20 projects I wish to work on are sitting and collecting dust.  The great part about this school program is there is no summer classes and school won't begin again until late September.  I'll have four good months with no school pressure and I'll be able to tackle all those projects.

Today, I took a school work break to work on the house.  I've pretty much ignored the cleaning of the house the last few weeks too.  I mean, I clean everyday, sweep, do dishes, and attempt to get the toys out of the living room.  The kids aren't helping me.  So, today I moved all the furniture, swept good, mopped good, cleaned all the junk that has been collecting on the tiny amount of counter space I have and the two front rooms are starting to look much better.  Now, I just need the kids to help me keep it that way.......

Culture Mash

I recently saw a resturant called "Carlos O'Kelly Mexican Cafe."

Now, to me, that seems like a crazy mix of cultures.  Carlos and Mexican work together.  I would guess O'Kelly is Irish and Cafe is French.

Perhaps a main dish would be Enchiladas with Bouillabaisse and Cabbage?

Corned Beef, Spanish Rice, and Blue Cheese

Foie Gras, Soda Bread and Sopapilla

Potato cakes, Tamales and Pain au chocolat

I just don't think that Mexican/Irish/French mix is really working out.  I think I'll just go to a good ol American burger joint.  French fries anyone?

PS - this is my 601 post. (little jig)

Um... what was I just thinking of?

I have my best blogging ideas when I'm driving but there is no way to write down those ideas.  My brain can't seem to hold a focused thought for more than a second altogether.  I'm constantly thinking of things to tell my husband, look up on the computer, or a blog idea that would be brilliant.  The problem is, by the time I turn around to face my husband or switch the Internet from one page to the next, I've forgotten.  This is how it goes:

Me: (think of great thought)  Honey?

Hubby: Yes?

Me:  Um, I forgot.

Now I'm trying to write a paper for school.  I'm typing away and think of some great sentence or word to describe what it is I'm trying to explain.  And then I forget it.  I sit there, my fingers resting on the home keys and I can't remember the word or the thought I was just about to express. 

It is so very frustrating.  I think I need some Ginko Biloba or what is considered brain food?  Is it swordfish or something like that?  What ever it is, me and my brain need help.

Do you know what today is?  It's Barbie Day! It is also Panic Day.  Really.  Let's combine the two and have Panicking Barbie Day!


"Ah my hair isn't perfect and my shoes don't match!"

Childhood toy - Cabbage Patch Kids

Sometime back in the early 80's ('83? '84?) on my sister's birthday, my sister and I each got our first Cabbage Patch Kid.  Mine had brown hair, blue eyes and freckles.  She was adorable, but came with the unfortunate name, Eleanora Dolores.  I changed her name to Ellie.  I love Ellie.  She and I had many days of fun, parties, chats, and such.  Over the years, I added to my little family.  In the end, I was a Cabbage Patch mom of six.

Ellie Lynn, Peggy Mae, Libby Audrey, Tom Ruben, John Richard and Clayton David

She looks just like my
sweet little Ellie did.

Even at a young age, I loved names and their names were picked with a great deal of thought and search through name books.

Peggy came to me with the name Peg Ruth.  She was a new version of the doll called a Preemie.  I picked her because I loved the name, Peg.  I changed it to Peggy.  It had special family meaning for me.

Libby Audrey arrived with to me with just that name.  I wasn't a huge fan of Libby, but I couldn't find anything else I wanted to call her, so Libby she was.  She had little pink glasses, which sadly got broken pretty early on.  Replacement glasses were never available.  She also had one leg that quite a bit shorter than the other.  I figured she must have had some awful disease before she came to me.

Tom and John were another new version of the doll - Twins!  I had three girls and I wanted boy twins.  I don't remember their original names, but I think Tom Ruben was the original name of the one doll.  I wanted their names to rhyme, so I chose John for the other name.  Yeah, I know, it doesn't rhyme.  Tom and John had matching blue jump suits and auburn colored hair.  They were super cute.

Last was little Clayton.  I actually never liked the name Clayton.  I wanted to name him Colin, but at the time, I couldn't remember the name. Clayton stuck.  The name David was named in honor of The Monkees.  Although Davy wasn't my favorite of the Monkees, his name sounded best with Clayton.  Really, Clayton Micky and Clayton Mike just didn't work.  Clayton Peter would have worked, but I felt David was the better choice.  Plus, I could honor the Monkees without being too obvious.  That means, by the time I got Clayton, I was probably 12 or 13 years old.  Yes, I was still playing with my CPK dolls regularly.

In the end, when I left for college, I left my Kids at home.  I was very sad, years later to discover my mom had thrown them all out.  I wanted to give them to my own children.  Mom's reasons for tossing them were sound.  They were old and not clean.  I think what I regret the most was that I never got pictures of them all.  I think I have a picture of me holding the twins on the day I got them, but the rest, I'm not sure I ever got pictures.  That makes me sad.

I got one for one of my own children, years later.  They didn't love it as much as I had when I was their age.  Oh well, times change and tastes change. Thankfully I have my memories of my first set of kids.  They were much quieter and didn't make messes of the house.  Good times!

driving thoughts

Have you ever seen those cars called The Cube?  I'm holding out for when they make the Pyramid.  That will be one awesome car!


The Cube

The Pyramid
http://pyramidinfo.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/pyramid-car/










Yesterday morning, while driving in the rain, a truck passed me and flashed his lights at me.  Now, I've usually taken that to mean either your brights are on and blinding me OR a police car is waiting in the bushes to get you if you speed past him.

I checked my brights. They weren't on.  So I checked my speed.  I was good.  I wasn't speeding.  I never saw a cop car.  So why in the world did that truck flash his lights at me?  It is a mystery of the driving universe that I will never know.

This morning after taking Peanut to preschool, three songs played on the radio in a row:

Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles
Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste of Honey

With songs like that playing on the radio, how can today be anything but a groovy day?




That's a lot of books!

We have a lot of books.  A lot.

When we moved into the house, we brought with us 7 large bookshelves and 2 small ones.  We unpacked what books we could and left the rest in boxes.  We didn't like have all the boxes of books sitting in the family room, but there was no where else to put them.  We decided we would just buy more bookshelves and get all the books out of boxes.  In the last month we bought 5 more large bookshelves.  They are completely full now, but our boxes are empty.  There is one in the living room, three in the family room, one in each of the three kids bedrooms, two in my loom room and four in the master bedroom.  Yep, our rooms are lined with shelves of books.  It's a little crazy and out of control, but we love our books!

In our dream home, we will have a library, the way they do in the old fancy homes. Like in Clue! I think  Professor Plum used the Abridged Oxford Dictionary in the Library. 

I don't often by books and when I do, I prefer not to pay full price.  I love 50 cent books from used bookstores.  Over the last year, I've started collecting some of my favorite young adult and children's literature.  I'll have to post a picture of my young adult collection one day.  I  have a bunch of name books!  I also have more parenting books than I care to admit to.  Too bad they haven't helped me that much.

Yes, one day... someday in the future, we will have our library.  Then we can reclaim the rest of the house as living areas.  Until then, thank goodness for bookshelves!

Library workings Survey

Hello friends!

I'm doing a class in cataloging and classification. I'm learning about the various classification systems, like the Dewey Decimal system.  I'm familiar with the way libraries in the USA classify books and I'm learning about the libraries in Scotland (because that is where my university is), but I'm curious to other countries.

In the United States, public libraries use the Dewey Decimal and the universities and national library (Library of Congress) use the classification system called the Library of Congress system.

What do the libraries in Canada use?  What about the rest of Europe? Other countries?

I don't guess it's really important that I know about other countries ways of library classification.  I guess I just need to know what they do in Great Britain (for my grades in class) and what they do in America since that is where I live and will work.  However, my class is really an international class.  I'm the only American with many from Great Britain, one or two Canadians, other Europeans, some Africans, and even folks from Asia.  It reminds me that there are many libraries in many countries with many languages and somehow all those libraries must classify their books.  I'm simply curious, but learning how the rest of the world libraries work can help me understand my own country.

I love this movie:  UHF.  Watch now and see Conan, the Librarian!

Lots of thoughts, nowhere to go

My brain is absolutely filled with thoughts, but nothing really worth blogging about.
School - gardens - kids - school - cleaning - laundry - family - no sugar - future ideas - more school

I'm still doing well with the sugar thing.  Yesterday our dinner guests cancelled.  I had already made the dessert, so we had it after dinner, even without the guests.  I made cake balls!!  I'm afraid I went a little overboard. They were so yummy.  It's no problem though, I'm back on track of no sugar today.  I'm thinking I'll have one day for a sugary treat each week.  Something to look forward to.

Spring is on it's way.  Each day of weather here is different from the day before.  Two days ago it was raining and cold.  Yesterday was in the high sixties and I had the back door open all day to let in the fresh air.  Today is sunny (so far) and should get to the low sixties, but it could rain this afternoon or evening. 

I love the rain!!!  I'm so excited for spring.  My natural-green deprived eyes might go into a state of shock when the forest we live in starts to bloom new spring green leaves.

My current computer wallpaper.  I'm trying to train my eyes to see green again.  LOL!

My first paper for school is due in 18 days!  Help me.  I don't know what to do.  I don't understand the assignment at all.  I'm thinking I need to work on that today.  It's hard to concentrate when my three year old daughter is on the computer next to me playing NickJr games and videos.  I'm going to have to plug in the headphones for her.  I can't take Dora and The Fresh Beat Band all morning.