What I'm reading Wednesday...

photo credit: publisher 

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch.  Murder mystery in seventeenth century Germany.  Feuds, witch hunt, torture, herbs, signs...interesting!

Creating order...

Something to be said about turning this...

...into this.

Always makes me feel a little nostalgic for those baskets full of fresh-off-the-line or warm-out-of-the-drier cloth diapers in days of yore.

Don't mention this to my husband...he will scoff, as he is usually the one to wash and fold the towels.  It is not my fault he chooses to do them while I am at work...or busy with other things...or shopping...

A Chloe kind of day...

 
She's the youngest.  She is NOT supposed to grow so quickly.

 

Of course, if she insists on growing so quickly, I am definitely going to continue encouraging things like yard work.  :)

(I really need to empty that complete sand box...sift all the sand to remove the leaves and twigs...check and/or replace the liner...and refill with the cleaned up sand.  And while I'm at it, I should rake the back yard of all those oak leaves and acorns.  Yeah.  I'll get right on that.)

Oh, speaking of yard work...after dinner tonight, we were reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and it said something about a wheel barrow.  Chloe says, 'what's a wheel barrow?'  I say it's something you use to work outside and move things...kind of like a wagon, only it has one wheel in front, and two handles on the back.  She says,'yeah, we don't have one of those.'

Last week her daddy took her to the gas station with him.  While he was there he bought a lottery ticket, and before putting it away, he kissed it.  Chloe can't quite figure that out, so she asks, 'Daddy!  Why did you kiss that paper?'

'Because it has numbers on it,'  Daddy says.  'And tonight there will be numbers on the TV.  And if they are the same numbers, you never have to work again.'

'I don't have to work now,' she says. 'I'm five.'

She likes to go to Sonic with Grandma, so of course we had to go.  She also wanted to make a card to send to her great grandma.  We read Eye Spy books and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.  And colored and ate ice cream.

It's a pretty great way to spend the day.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

photo credit: Andrews McMeel Publishing


Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a collection of humorous essays.  It is available at an unturndownable price at Amazon right now.  I needed something that I could enjoy in quick reading sessions this week.  I'm not much of a knitter, but I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with so many of her thoughts.  And the chuckles are most welcome.

Boo...hiss...


I'm pretty sure I've bemoaned the atrocious customer service of Office Depot personnel here before.  And I really try to stay away from their stores because of it.  But today I really needed to pick up a couple of things and have something printed on a laser printer and save as much time as possible, so I made the mistake of stopping at the nearest Office Depot. 

Verily I say unto you, they have the most apathetic and downright surly staff of any large chain store I've come across.  And they are completely unapologetic about it!

Today I ended up standing and waiting.  Finally I asked if anyone was working the printing counter, only to hear one employee tell another to help me, to which the response was, "I'll be there in a minute."  Neither employee ever addressed me directly in any way.  Oh, and by the way, I was the ONLY customer in the store...they were not suffering a mad crush of business.  I waited several more minutes, and finally left my intended purchases on the counter and walked out before I embarrassed myself by...oh, I don't know...throwing something and screaming, maybe.

I would have saved more time and angst if I had driven the extra five miles to their competition in the first place.  Now I have to add 'write letter of complaint to Office Depot' to my to-do list this week.

Oh, lover...I mean liver...

This is what Carey requested I make for dinner.  Indeed.  Liver and onions.  And I actually prepared it.

If there are any doubts floating around as to whether or not this man is loved, this should dispell all.  I think it's been about twenty years or more since I've made this meal. I usually suggest that he quench his cravings for it at restaurants.  (Hey, I said he was loved...I didn't say he was loved beyond all reason!)

It actually turned out very well.  I added some maple-smoked bacon to Mom's old recipe.  It's true what they say...bacon really does make everything better!  :)  And Carey was very happy.

Saturday's snail mail...

My endeavor to send 52 letters in 52 weeks continues.

The hardest letter yet.  This week I learned that a sweet friend lost her son...so young...I think he was only twenty-three.

accountability stats: 22 weeks / 41 letters