Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for the kindness of others, especially for the following situations:

- for my very good friend from work who lent #1 her copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after she finished reading it.

- for my amazing brother-in-law who was able to completely fix my dryer. It's been making funny noises since January, but it completely died on Monday. We asked him to come over and assess the situation. It turned out to need a couple of parts and a knowledgeable hand, and now it runs very well, and - I might add - very quietly.

- for another very good friend from work who had all of the "girls" in for drinks this afternoon. She had had her kitchen renovated and was eager to show it off to all of us. I'm so happy for her and her husband. She has spoken for years of looking for a new house; today she seemed very happy right where she is.

- for my sister-in-law who has invited me over tomorrow to pick cherries from her tree. She has promised me a couple of recipes to put them in, and I look forward to baking pies and muffins.

- for the lady who walked #3's bike home for him after he had a bit of an accident just down the street. She had been driving by when she saw him fall and hurt himself, so she stopped and walked him home, bringing his bike for him. I had never seen her before. People can be so kind!

Time now for me to call it a night. I hope all of you are well and happy.

Harry Has Left the Building

Last night we took the boys to the largest bookstore in town to attend the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows launch party. It was a festive evening filled with costumes, treats and excitement.

The Science Centre mentioned in my last entry had people there hosting "Potions Classes" and showing off animals that wizards may have such as snakes, mice, and lizards. There was a craft table set up with colouring sheets and paper neckties and spectacles you could colour and decorate. A magician performed late in the evening. At one second past midnight, when the book was finally released, there was a reading of the first chapter by the fireplace.

The anticipation was palpable as children ran among the stacks. Teenagers hung out in packs attempting to look indifferent. I heard one young twenty-something say to another, "Let's head next door for a beer and come back later." People began lining up at the cash desk hours ahead of time waiting to buy their copy, and there was a line-up in a different area of the store for those who had pre-paid. People of all ages awaited their chance to know the fate of the most famous boy wizard ever.

Although we had no plans to stay until midnight, #1 ran into some friends and wanted to stick around. Main Man and I took the little ones home around 11:00 and he returned to retrieve #1 later.

We haven't bought the book yet. I did put it on hold at the library, but we are 157th in line, so I expect we will end up buying it sooner rather than later. #1 desperately wants to read it before someone spills the beans to him about what the ending will bring.

I expect it will be the first title on the first purchase order I write for my library in the fall, as well.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful ...

... for my very own bed after being away on vacation for ten days. As Dorothy so eloquently put it, "There's no place like home!"

... that I still have three quarters of my summer holiday remaining.

... for the summer children's programs offered by our public library. Today we saw a performance called George and the Jester, a one-man show where the guy acted like a court jester and taught about medieval life. He was an interesting guy, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and he had handbuilt a lot of his props including a rare Irish harp, a lute, and a cross-bow. #2, especially, found it very interesting.

... to have Ruffy back. He didn't come on our vacation with us, and we missed him very much. He had fun too, though, as he stayed with the lady who gave him to us two years ago. She and her husband love him very much, and their grandchildren enjoyed playing with Ruff when they visited.

... for good friends and neighbours who kept the home fires burning while we were away, like Ruffy's loving guardians, and our neighbours on either side who took in our mail and watered Main Man's garden. There were several break-ins in our neighbourhood while we were away, but, thanks to our diligent neighbours, our humble little home suffered no intrusions.

... for the beauty of summer gardens.

... for the energy to complete my new summer fitness routine. I've been determined to walk Ruffy every morning before anyone else wakes up (except when we were on vacation and he wasn't with us), and I've done well with that. This week I kicked it up an notch, though, and I've begun a walk / run routine in which I walk 100 steps, then jog 100 steps. It's gotten my heart rate up just that much faster, but it's achievable. I know that running the entire distance would be beyond me for sure.

... for our Science Centre. We have a family membership, and it's probably one of the best investments we've ever made. We spent part of the afternoon there yesterday, and it's amazing how they have such a wide variety of activities, something for everyone of any age.

... for good clean water to drink on a hot day.

... for family swim time at our local public pool. From 6:45 to 8:00 every evening, families swim for free. Yesterday was a hot, drippingly humid day, and a quick dip after supper was just what the doctor ordered.

I hope everybody has a fantastic week.

Thankful Thursday

This week, I am thankful ...

... for vacations. This week we are in sunny Westbank, British Columbia, in a Bed and Breakfast with an unbelievable view of lovely Lake Okanagan. We have our own private deck on which we can sit and have breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening, and after dinner, we can sit in the hot tub on the deck and watch the lights across the lake twinkle to the stars above.

... for days with temperatures of 35 degrees (Celsius, that is, for my American friends), and beautiful beaches on which to spend those days.

... for Main Man taking the boys to see The Transformers Movie on Tuesday evening, so I could spend an evening all by myself enjoying the view off the deck (and I don't need to tell you how peaceful that view was when I was all by myself!).

... for Noxzema, for sunburns.

... for the patience to deal with Main Man's ideas, like when he decided to take us on a drive around the lake and we ended up with an overheated engine on an abandoned logging road. Hey, the scenery was spectacular! (Positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts... ;-)

... for the deliciously intoxicating flavour of Lake Okanagan wine. How amazing to encounter a dozen or so tiny vinyards on just a short little drive.

... for the wonderful feeling at the end of a holiday that I am ready to go home, no matter how wonderful the holiday has been.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks so much for your comments and your visits. I'll be checking in much more regularly once we hit home.

The Language Police Are On the Job

#3 and I went to the first puppet show of the summer season at the library yesterday. We were treated to a very entertaining rendition of Walter the Farting Dog.

You can vividly imagine, I'm sure, the hoots of laughter emanating from the crowd, chiefly consisting of children ranging from three to eight years old, every time the puppeteers gasped the word "fart" or sounded the whoopie cushion (every thirty seconds or so).

#3 was no exception. He enjoyed almost every second of the performance. I say "almost", because there was one moment when his giggles gave way to a frown of perplexity and discomfort.

In one scene two burglars invade Walter's home in the night. Not wishing to wake anyone, one of the intruders tells the other to "Shut up!"

A shadow instantly crossed #3's face and he scooted over to the side where I was seated to inform me, "There are little kids here. They shouldn't say, 'Shut up'!"

Yes, it's nice to know that he's on the job!

Eye Candy Analysis

Okay, so we're at the beach yesterday for Canada Day, and I came to a disappointing realization.

It's much easier for a man to enjoy eye candy at the beach than a woman.

Here's my logic:

It takes absolutely no work for a seventeen-year-old girl to look good in a bikini. Heck - I looked fantastic in a bikini from the age of sixteen to the age of twenty-five or so. And that was through absolutely no effort on my part - no dieting, no organised exercise. The hardest part was buying the bikini.

Young men, however, must put some effort into looking good in a bathing suit. Skinny doesn't cut it. They have to work out in order to have biceps and abs that I'm interested in looking at. Sorry, guys, that's just the way it is.

And I really am sorry. Believe me! Because yesterday, Main Man's eyes just about fell out of their sockets several time as he ogled the bikinis, while I was doomed to view skinny eighteen-year-olds and paunchy forty-year-olds.

This could be a painful summer.