I've been busy!

Anybody have a good recipe for sangria? A friend of mine was talking about a white sangria too that sounds refreshing.

Any other good new drinks out there?

Did anyone notice that Diet Coke came out with a variation that has vitamins? I guess they were worried about the junkies getting some nutrition.

Did any of you play with Matchbox cars? We had those orange track strips that you could link together. We started the ramp on top of Mom's china cabinet, put a loop in it, and sent cars way off down the hall. (Did you know about that Mom?)

Well, I think all the kids who played with those are now buying cars. It seems I keep seeing cars with flames on the front, big wide racing stripes running down across the top of the car, bright colors with fancy paintwork. Whenever I see one, I want to ask the driver if they played iwth Hot Wheels.

OK,
I've been tagged twice for seven things. Yours is coming next if you haven't been tagged already.

1. One of my favorite snacks is hummus & Tricuits with a glass of wine, although chips & guacamole and margaritas are right up there too.

2. I have always wanted to see the Library of Alexandria in Egypt and some of those places with relics from ancient civilizations.

3. I just started a book by Ken Follet called "Whiteout." I thought it would be about the Artic or Mt. Everest, but it's about a leaked virus. Oh well, I'll keep reading.

4. I like to play the piano to relax, although I'm not very good and prefer no audience. I like the arrangement I have of Simple Gifts.

5. My first real concert was Bruce Springsteen's The River tour.

6. I have never regretted having laser eye surgery about 5 years ago.

7. I am currently wearing pink toe nail polish.

Now, I think I will tag
Miss Bunny
Julie
Mark
John
Just Me (you can post yours in my comments)
Laura (you can post yours in my comments)
Peggy (you can post yours in my comments)
(I'm trying not to take all my overlapping people)
I'll post the request in your comments soon.

You're it!

I love when the summer produce begins showing up in the grocery stores. Today in the store they had cherries! and they were sweet too.

I'm finally getting a little better at the self checkout in the grocery store. I even use it when I have to weigh produce now. You get that mechanical woman's voice:
"Put your bananas on the scanner."
"Please move your bananas."

I had to look around and see if anyone was listening when I purchased my cherries.

I had a "dinner meeting" last night that was lovely. When I got out of my car in the parking lot, a neighboring church's chimes were playing the Big Ben song. Then they began to strike the hour. I felt the impulse to run, but I didn't want to chip my glass slippers on the bricks.

Today is my mother’s birthday. She is 50-16, a beautiful age. Before I took her out for a perfect lunch on the brick patio of the Sly Horse tavern, I joined her for her weekly devotional gathering called “Health & Healing.” I have heard her talk about these intimate gatherings. It was her birthday and she invited me, so I went.

I know why she goes. I think it has been a long time since anyone literally prayed over me. It felt like crawling up into my mother’s lap.

My mother has given me many gifts over the years. Health and Healing is just today’s.

The weather the last few days has been particularly gorgeous. My skin is still stinging a bit from the bright sun on Mother's Day. I had my first ear of corn for the new season. I took a lovely bike ride.

I can't help thinking of Sheryl Crow's "I'm Going to Soak up the Sun."

For Mother's Day my kids got me a new CD by Regina Spektor that I am enjoying very much. She has a song on there called "Samson" which uses the voice of Delilah in a way that I totally get. I first heard this singer on Letterman when visiting Julie in Abilene. The whole CD is great.

Did you hear there was a honey bee crisis? You would have never known it at the arboetum last week. This field of red thistle-like flowers was an orchestra of humming & buzzing.

I'm still having fun with my new camera. So much to learn!

My son's LAX team did a Mother's Day skills demonstration at practice last night to thank us for all the driving and cold bleachers.

Well, I hope I'm surfing the final ripples of the theater tsunami that roared through here last weekend. A lot of loose ends stacked up leaving the beginning of this week to catch up. My organizational skills are about as good as FEMA's.

As I was operating two scenery curtains this past weekend, I had some observations on Shakespeare's famous As You Like It passage, "All the world's a stage."


I like this metaphor because don't we all play different roles? The people who know us best have seen us backstage. They help us into our costume and cue us with our lines. They move the scenery into proper position and direct the lighting. But they have seen the facade sideways and from behind. They have known that this is a role, and have been willing to help us shine. And sometimes, we let them play their role and we operate their curtain.

Sounds like a parent. Or a friend.

The cover story of the latest issue of US News & World Report, which I subscribed to as one of my Brownie fundraisers, is about traffic. The article has a ranking of the worst counties in America for traffic. Numbers 1-4 are all NYC feeders. Numbers 5&6 are DC feeders - #6 being the county I live in.

No wonder.

I have logged a lot of hours in the car lately that probably don't correspond well with the number of miles I've traveled. I am so glad I got a hybrid with gas at $3 a gallon. (I'm averaging about 48 mpg!) I keep a lot of convenience items in the car for traffic snarls.

I have lately resumed listening to books on CD which sometimes make me glad the ride is extended.
I keep a swiffer duster in my car and sometimes run it over the dashboard. I gather trash. I apply lotion.


What do you do when stuck in traffic?